Further I had made up my mind some time ago to have no more
friendships with women who are so full of surprises, but to live out
the rest of my life in a kind of monastery of men who have few
surprises, being creatures whose thoughts are nearly always open and
whose actions can always be foretold.

Lastly there was that /Taduki/ business. Well, there at any rate I was
clear and decided. No earthly power would induce me to have anything
more to do with /Taduki/ smoke. Of course I remembered that Lady
Ragnall once told me kindly but firmly that I would if she wished. But
that was just where she made a mistake. For the rest it seemed unkind
to refuse her invitation now when she was in trouble, especially as I
had once promised that if ever I could be of help, she had only to
command me. No, I must go. But if that word--/Taduki/--were so much as
mentioned I would leave again in a hurry. Moreover it would not be,
for doubtless she had forgotten all about the stuff by now, even if it
were not lost.

The end of it was that as I did not wish to write a long letter
entering into all that Lady Ragnall had told me, I sent her a
telegram, saying that if convenient to her, I would arrive at the
Castle on the following Saturday evening and adding that I must be
back here on the Tuesday afternoon, as I had guests coming to stay
with me on that day. This was perfectly true as the season was mid-
November and I was to begin shooting my coverts on the Wednesday
morning, a function that once fixed, cannot be postponed.

In due course an answer arrived--"Delighted, but hoped that you would
have been able to stay longer."