"It doesn't in the least, Mr. Ballard," I said dryly. "I shall survive
the ordeal with composure."

He glanced at me, smiled and then went on.

"Except for the presence of Miss Redwood, who goes today, the new
regulation has been in force here for a month. The farmers and
gamekeepers are all bachelors. We have an excellent steward, also a
bachelor. You and he will understand each other. In all things that
pertain to the boy he is under your orders. Questions of authority
where you differ are to be referred to me."

"I understand. I am not difficult to get on with."

My employer had described to me thoroughly but quite impersonally all
the conditions of his trust and mine, but had made no comments which
by the widest stretch of imagination could be construed into opinions.
He gave me the impression then as he did later that he was carrying
out strictly the letter of his instructions from the dead. He had a
face graven into austere lines, which habit had schooled into perfect
obedience to his will. He might have believed the experiment to which
he was committed a colossal joke, and no sign of his opinion would be
reflected in his facial expression, which was, save on unimportant
matters, absolutely unchanging. Nor did he seem to care what my own
thoughts might be in regard to the matter, though I had not refrained
from expressing my interest in the project. My character, my
reputation for conscientiousness, my qualifications for the position
were all that seemed to concern him. I was merely a piece of
machinery, the wheels of which he was to set in motion, which would