of it. "It's quite safe," said
Brown; but it looked the most breakneck thing in the world, and my very
toes seemed to curl up, not with fear, but with a kind of awful joy. I
think when a bird takes its great swoops through the air it must feel
like we felt that day. The car bounded down the long lengths of looped
road, slowed up a little at the turns (where we all had to throw our
bodies sideways, like sailors hanging over the gunwale of a racing
yacht), bounded forward again so that the wind rushed by our ears like a
hurricane, slowed up once more, and so by a series of these magnificent
bird-like swoops reached the level ground. It was a fine piece of
driving on Brown's part, needing nerve, judgment, and a perfect
knowledge of the capabilities of his car. I had scarcely recovered from
the tingling joy of this wild mountain descent when we were in Cannes,
driving up an avenue to our hotel.

It was a charming house, and I fell in love with Cannes at first sight;
but would you believe it? Jimmy's wonderful surprise never came off at
all!--and he wouldn't even tell me what it was. Aunt Mary wanted to; but
he got quite red, and said, "No, Miss Kedison, it may make me a great
deal of trouble if you say anything--at present. The whole position is
changed." I think mysteries are silly.

By the way, you remember my telling you about the nice Lady
Brighthelmston I met in Paris, on her way to the Riviera--the mother of
the Honourable John who owns our Napier? She was going to stay at this
very hotel, and I thought it would be rather nice to see her again. I
meant to ask, when we arrived at the hotel, if she were there; but to my
surprise Aunt Mary remembered to do it before I did, and she and Jimmy
both seemed eager to find out. We had hardly got into the big, beautiful
hall, when they began to ply the manager with questions, and Jimmy
looked quite crestfallen when he was told that she had just gone on to
Rome. He _is_ rather fond of what he calls "swells," but I hadn't
fancied from what he said before that he knew Lady Brighthelmston very
well, or cared particularly about meeting her.

"Most annoying!" he exclaimed crossly, glaring at the manager as if it
were his fault. "And has the Honourable John Winston, her son, been here
also?"

"No," said the manager. "Lady Brighthelmston was with friends, an old
gentleman and his daughter. But I understood that her ladyship's son was
expected and that she was disappointed he did not