Show VIP copyright channing 11 service SYNOPSIS the duke a pleasant likable youth of twenty enty three boble jobless wand and broke en home bome in in tera merw an unoccupied summer southampton seeking shelter from a terrific rain storm ho he makes himself i at home six vears rears ago his father had died in china leaving the lad barry gilbert allbert to fight his bib way back to the states he did not recollect ever having had bad a mother dozing at the fireside he Is startled by the arrival of a butler willetts a chauffeur evans a cook and a maid ile he learns that the of the house jack son of the owner bidder r whom the servants had nev never er seen Is expected he de decides aides to bluff it out I 1 CHAPTER I 1 continued 2 1 I hope not the duke replied gr grinning grinding 11 broadly and seeing that grin the four servants smiled too plainly surprised at the masters good humor this Is evans sir the butler continued this is mrs mulligan cook sir and annie jeffers the parlor maid it if you dont mind sir ill get them set and then ill come upstairs to report fine 1 said the duke calculating that five minutes would get him into his clothes and out the front door ile he was climbing the steps again when willetts called 1 I never thought sir your bed iset made ill get the linen out and have annie up there right away want a good fire in your room to dry things out ive got ot a fire in the library the duke replied dont hurry im very comfortable they did hurry he had scarcely got his trousers from under the mattress when annie appeared just as he had bad seen her in the hall and with a small load of immaculate sheets and pillow cases mr evans is Egli lighting ting the furnace she said the house is that cold its an oil burner mr willetts says I 1 wonder you think of it but of course youre a stranger here too A stranger what did she mean by that where had be been he wondered evidently not home at any rate so that was why willetts willet ts known he be mr ridder was willetts new the girl was on her knees at the hearth and the duke ventured halt half a question willetts a stranger of course not annie replied nor mr evans just mrs mulligan and me we was taken on when madam and mr ridder bidder expected to spend the summer here and hedve been let out I 1 guess when they decided to go to germany if it been for your coming back 1 I picked just the right minute I 1 grinned the duke duk and you sure did grinned the parlor maid spreading the linen over the arms of two chairs it was an amusin amusing conversation but it had bad been too in long returning to the library trousers still in hand barry gilbert encountered the ubiquitous willetts ill take those sir said the butler tating them oil oh never mind need pressing ill need them be ready for you in the morning willetts IVil letts said with a note n ote of finality did you bring any py jamas sir any lie would do for now yes answered the duke dul e but like an idiot I 1 checked my suitcase suit case and god knows what happened to the check ill get you a pair of your fathers father Is 91 willetts volunteered youre very much of a size lie ile was taking stock of the new master look like your father if you dont mind in my y saying so sir same figure same kind of face only kinder if you dont mind my saying so sir the duke mind it was all a lucky break only how long would it last overplay over play my luck thought the duke but the real mr ridder coming until tomorrow why make a break for it tonight the storm was roaring and throwing buckets of water against the windows the butler had gone into the bedroom and returned with a pair of purple silk pyjamas pajamas py jamas anything else sir no thanks ill be leaving you then theres a lot to do getting the rooms ready for cook and the maid never been here before dont know their way about evans dont neither what time breakfast sir air oh say eight right sir good night sir said the butler bowing bowin himself out easy BaSy Po thought the duke standing before the fire with the purple dyja mas in his hand too basyl easy too damned basyl easy theres a catchin it somewhere willetts implied that he had been with the family some time why had he never seen the son or even a picture of him why was be so willing I 1 to accept a stranger in the house at his own word practically without question why did he take those trousers im trapped mused the duke or else or else what or else hes no more a butler than 1 I am mr ridder how flow do I 1 know what he is theres a lot of mighty valuable junk in this house it was with that thought in his bis mind and himself imagined in a new and exciting k role that ills his grace of hollywood finally turned the other cheek check on an irish linen pillow slip and dropped off to sleep the trousers were beside his bed when he awoke and all that cinema nonsense had evaporated from his mind just a lucky break A good nights rest in a warm dry house whose owners had suddenly dashed off to europe leaving the establishment to a son who happened to be unknown to the servants if I 1 belonged in a house like this he squared his shoulders and sauntered down the carpeted stairs no need of finishing the sentence already he be felt a new new dignity a new stiffening self respect the trousers were neatly pressed and good morning sir said the butler as he entered the breakfast room there was nothing make shift about the meal evans had been to town for cream and bacon and bread and the duke s courage rose with every sip SID of the ste steaming amin coffee this lie he inquired his eye falling up an envelope at his plate A letter for your mother sir willetts replied it came after shed left the hotel and evans got it when he went back for some thin thins things s he was to bring out here he forgot it last night sir mrs ridder ludder expected some in mail all from ilie the employment agency and places like that she said you was to open it sir barry hesitated he could feel a chilly something in the butlers gaze sooner than return the gaze or evade it lie he opened the envelope A hundred dollar bill dropped out well sir exclaimed the butler any doubts he may hane hae entertained lost in liis his surprise well echoed the duke with that new courage born of the steaming coffee well and likewise good I 1 can use this yes sir said the butler A little more coffee sir thank you assented the duke and aliu just diw one more mure niece of toast alone in the cheerful breakfast break fas room with the cheerful sunshine streaming down outside he read the letter dear mother im returning the money I 1 cant keep it and I 1 cant go to southampton im sending this special delivery so have time to get rid of the servants it if you decide not to open th the e house for your sake fake I 1 hope fath father er improves at bad nauheim but I 1 dont want anything that cornes comes from him and I 1 shant write again thanks all the tha same john the duke picked up the envelope again it had been posted the previous morning in new york and there was no special delivery stamp well he remarked santa claus Is certainly worked overtime for me I 1 back with the toast and coffee willetts inquired anything important sir the letter asked the duke as though that had been farthest from his present thoughts no ill send it to bad Nau kalheim heini when I 1 write and keep the money until my mother r returns e what time shall you want the car sir serl the car for luncheon sir its a fairish ion long walk to the village ll 11 his grace reflected it was a long walk to the village it was an even longer walk to montauk point and apparently there was no possibility of overplaying his luck why should not he ride to mont montauk auk in comfort or at least to within a few miles of montauk and disappear there instead of at southampton 1 I might take a drive he said why not exactly what I 1 was thinking they both smiled A good fellow willetts how absurd to have suspected him ot of being a thief and how jumpy to have imagined 0 that chilly something in the butlers gaze out of sight of the house he took the precaution of burning that letter from john 11 the truth was that the dukes uneasiness over that hundred had bad nothing to do with the fear of being caught ile he had bad never stolen anything before ill return that money from Alon montauk roused mused tile the duke 1 I dont want to be hooked for robbing the malls mails this was certainly a beautiful place not very well kept though he observed there ought to be a tetter better lawn even so near the sea if it were mine and he grinned again it was for the moment but on only y for t the he moment life had never been dull for him or for his bis father keep moving that was the old mans slogan and that was all he ever kept barrys memories began in pittsburg stranded francis gilbert had tutored there e a 4 e I 1 L 4 1 I 1 ts its got to go fumed the white haired gentleman spoiling good longshoremen he called it because their papas ara rich from one of the longshoremen carry barry had discovered that he should have a mother the old man had bad never mentioned it so his son raised the question 1 I lost her his father said how 11 in mg algiers lers you were born there it was years before carry barry was old enough to put tile the two thin things gs together did she lie die when I 1 was born he asked then and got no answer this was vas in san sebastian where the old man ti worked in acu for lul an ensine erins concern soon afterward they pushed on to england and short lived prosperity barry went to school for the first time and found that lie had learned more from ills his father than the other lads from their professors that was fortunate because th the e schooling lasted only a year before barry fifteen now was taken to india 1 I cant stand counting houses his father had told him given us a berth in calcutta it an upper berth and it was in another counting house 1 I met a fellow today the elder gilbert announced abos lot got something to do with the diamond mines i I 1 think well go to johannesburg Johannes bur b they because beca use a week later the old man found another friend who suggested g 1 manila from there it was only a step to to canton and the tea business and a shorter step to hong kong where francis gilbert came home one night with a fever and dle died d the next morning barry had begged a clerkship in hong 1 kong and then worked his way to san francisco on the boat was a 1 movie director youve got a 1 great smile lie he told the th e youngster I think I 1 can use you hollywood then and one studio after af ter another youth and looks 1 and tile tho ingratiating grin helped hei ped a lot there and barry learned a lot too how w to wear clothes and how gentlemen behaved or hollywood thought they behaved in a drawing dra wing room he was two hundred hun ared dollars earning a week sometimes when a wallet vanished from coat a thrown over a table in the set 9 the duke knew who took it she was a poor little thing thou though h and desperate and his grace kept kep it his month shut they pin it on him lie he said and they but there were no jobs after that and so hed come east ankle deep in the sand that morning at southampton he kept thinking of the letter hed just burned and of his own mother lie he had missed her all through his childhood watching the other boys with their mothers or at school in england getting ready to go home to them 1 I lost her the old man had said and never mentioned the matter again had she lied died in algiers in childbirth or merely grown weary of wandering and decided to stay somewhere with someone id like to find her the duke thought at noon evans brought the car do you know where were going asked the duke yes im taking you for a ride almost surly thought the duke and it had a sinister sound tha that t phrase you want to get et lunch dont you the chauffeur added quickly 1 I want to see the end of the island we can eat cat anywhere the duke sank back into the cushioned seat it gave him a curious sense of importance being driven like this along the highway they sped the car was slowing down now and looking ahead ills ilis grace saw another limousine drawn up at the side of the road evans bvans threw out the clutch and then put his foot on the brake A husky young fellow in uniform in was standing in front of the other car BesidA beside him lm was a spare white haired gentleman and framed in the cars doorway ready to alight stood a pretty girl Is stop top 1 I said the duke quite ero ato rily since they had stopped she was the prettiest girl he had ever seen the duke decided lie he had made the same decision many times before but this time he felt it would be final tall and slim and dark dressed in an ensemble of hunters green tweed with a top coat to match and a tiny felt hat perched upon her sleek black hair she looked somehow h ow like a thing thin turned out by an entirely perfect machine trim and p polished oll shed and built for speed he her r eyes were gray the duke was to discover later and wide and a little cold her nose was a stra eglit line from her forehead and her lips were bright red against the pale ivory of her face can an I 1 do anything for you in quiren the duke he was standing before her now and her lance glance took him in ID calmly appraising appraisingly ay iy before she answered wo no thanks and with that carry barry felt she erased him from the landec landscape ape yes you can said the white haired gentleman that is 1 s if either of you knows anything about a car my chauffeur well be glad lad to try the duke said cordially have a look at it will you evans sullenly evans walked over to the open hood its the I 1 ignition ni tion the other chauffeur told him start her up she won t start the two men began fussing with the en engine ine it its s got to go fumed the white haired gentleman 1 I had a bite since breakfast and im due in new york at five hungry myself said the duke where did you mean to eat 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