At eleven thirty precisely a very tall young man with an amiable and ingenuous countenance entered the outer office and addressed himself to Albert, the office boy.
“Look here-I say. Can I see Mr.-er-Blunt?”
“Have you an appointment, sir?” said Albert.
“I don’t quite know. Yes, I suppose I have. What I mean is I wrote a letter-”
“What name, sir?”
“Mr. Montgomery Jones.”
“I will take your name in to Mr. Blunt.”
He returned after a brief interval.
“Will you wait a few minutes please, sir. Mr. Blunt is engaged on a very important conference at present.”
“Oh-er-yes-certainly,” said Mr. Montgomery Jones. Having, he hoped, impressed his client sufficiently Tommy rang the buzzer on his desk, and Mr. Montgomery Jones was ushered into the inner office by Albert.
Tommy rose to greet him, and shaking him warmly by the hand motioned towards the vacant chair.
“Now, Mr. Montgomery Jones,” he said briskly, “what can we have the pleasure of doing for you?”
Mr. Montgomery Jones looked uncertainly at the third occupant of the office.
“My confidential secretary, Miss Robinson,” said Tommy. “You can speak quite freely before her. I take it that this is some family matter of a delicate kind?”
“Well-not exactly,” said Mr. Montgomery Jones.
“You surprise me,” said Tommy. “You are not in trouble of any kind yourself, I hope?”
“Oh rather not,” said Mr. Montgomery Jones.
“Well,” said Tommy, “perhaps you will-er-state the facts plainly.”
That, however, seemed to be the one thing that Mr. Montgomery Jones could not do.
“It’s a dashed odd sort of thing I have got to ask you,” he said hesitatingly. “I-er-I really don’t know how to set about it.”
“We never touch divorce cases,” said Tommy.
“Oh Lord no,” said Mr. Montgomery Jones. “I don’t mean that. It is just, well-it’s a deuced silly sort of a joke. That’s all.”
“Someone has played a practical joke on you of a mysterious nature?” suggested Tommy.
But Mr. Montgomery Jones once more shook his head.
“Well,” said Tommy retiring gracefully from the position, “take your own time and let us have it in your own words.”
There was a pause.
“You see,” said Mr. Jones at last, “it was at dinner. I sat next to a girl.”
“Yes?” said Tommy encouragingly.
“She was a-oh, well, I really can’t describe her, but she was simply one of the most sporting girls I ever met. She’s an Australian over here with another girl, sharing a flat with her in Clarges Street. She’s simply game for anything. I absolutely can’t tell you the effect that girl had on me.”
“We can quite imagine it, Mr. Jones,” said Tuppence.
She saw clearly that if Mr. Montgomery Jones’ troubles were ever to be extracted a sympathetic feminine touch was needed, as distinct from the businesslike methods of Mr. Blunt.
“We can understand,” said Tuppence encouragingly.
“Well, the whole thing came as an absolute shock to me,” said Mr. Montgomery Jones, “that a girl could, well-knock you over like that. There had been another girl-in fact two other girls. One was awfully jolly and all that but I didn’t much like her chin. She danced marvellously though and I have known her all my life which makes a fellow feel kind of safe, you know. And then there was one of the girls at the ‘Frivolity.’ Frightfully amusing, but of course there would be a lot of ructions with the mater over that, and anyway I really didn’t want to marry either of them, but I was thinking about things you know and then-slap out of the blue-I sat next to this girl and-”
“The whole world was changed,” said Tuppence in a feeling voice.
Tommy moved impatiently in his chair. He was by now somewhat bored by the recital of Mr. Montgomery Jones’ love affairs.
“You put it awfully well,” said Mr. Montgomery Jones. “That is absolutely what it was like. Only, you know, l fancy she didn’t think much of me. You mayn’t think it but I am not terribly clever.”
“Oh, you mustn’t be too modest,” said Tuppence.
“Oh, I do realize that I am not much of a chap,” said Mr. Jones with an engaging smile. “Not for a perfectly marvellous girl like that. That is why I just feel I have got to put this thing through. It’s my only chance. She’s such a sporting girl that she would never go back on her word.”