The Devil's Cocktail Read Online Free PDF Page B

ease?’
    â€˜I really am getting positively awful,’ he grinned. ‘I’ll have to put the brake on, or it will become chronic.’
    And then Joan sat straight up and stared. She had been very carefully brought up, but even carefully brought up young ladies are too surprised to remember their manners sometimes. Joan was very much surprised.
    A most remarkable individual entered the room and, seeing her, bowed almost double. Not more than five feet in height, the newcomer had the figure of a boy of fourteen, but his face was so wrinkled that he might have been anything between thirty-five and sixty years of age. As a matter of fact he was forty-three. He was clad in a perfectly fitting blue serge suit, neat collar and tie, patent leather boots and spats. Over his left arm lay a beautifully folded rain-coat, and in his right hand a dark grey Stetson hat. Altogether he looked as though he had stepped out of a band-box.
    Having completed his bow he straightened himself and glanced whimsically from Joan to Hugh and back again, and Joan found herself looking into a pair of the brightest eyes she had ever seen. They were a deep brown, but so sharp that they fascinated her, and it was almost with an effort that she drew her eyes from his, but the next moment she was looking at his mouth. Perhaps this was the most inviting part of his face. It was full of such humorous curvesthat involuntarily she smiled. He smiled too, and at once his face was a mass of the most extraordinary creases, each one of which appeared to be grinning at her. This was too much for Joan; her sense of humour got the better of her, and she broke into a peal of laughter. The little man laughed too, and the absurdity of the situation so tickled Hugh that he was compelled to join in, with the result that for some seconds the room resounded with their merriment. Alice stood at the door in astonishment, but she also found it impossible to control her laughter, and stuffing a handkerchief into her mouth, she hastened to the kitchen, where she collapsed into a chair, much to Maud’s alarm.
    â€˜O-oh!’ gasped Joan, as soon as she had regained control of herself. ‘I’m awfully sorry.’
    She blushed with embarrassment.
    â€˜Not at all,’ replied the little man. ‘A most charming introduction I’m sure. There is nothing more conducive to friendship than laughter. Doctor Johnson says that—’
    â€˜Never mind Doctor Johnson, Cousins,’ interrupted Hugh. ‘This is my sister! Joan, this is Cousins, my valet who has pleaded so hard to come to India with me!’
    Joan held out her hand, which Cousins took with the air of a cavalier of the seventeenth century.
    â€˜I am very glad to meet you, Mr Cousins!’ said Joan, smiling. ‘I am sure you are the ideal valet.’
    â€˜Ideal is not descriptive enough, Miss Shannon,’ he replied. ‘There never was, and never will be, such a valet as I. “Clothes maketh the man” is the basis of my religion; you’ll be astonished at the difference in your brother, after I have taken him in hand.’
    â€˜I’ll punch your head if you interfere with me, Cousins,’ said Hugh; ‘that is, more than is necessary for appearances’ sake.’
    â€˜When I undertake a job, sir, I do it properly. You haven’t a word to say in the matter.’
    Hugh looked helplessly at his sister.
    â€˜I’m in for a lively time, Joan,’ he said.
    â€˜Not at all,’ put in Cousins. ‘You are about to enter the most triumphant period of your life; that is, since I left your service. We mustn’t forget that I have been your valet for years – I’ve merely been away for a year or so looking after a dying relative.’ He looked at Joan. ‘How long have you had your maid, Miss?’ he queried.
    â€˜Maud has been with us for eighteen months,’ she answered, ‘and Alice for just over a