Victoria Holt by The Time of the Hunter's Moon Read Free Book Online

train and on the boat…and now here.”
    “I am here because I saw it was on my route and I thought I would drop in to see you.”
    “On your route to where?”
    “To my home.”
    “So you live in England.”
    “I have a place in Switzerland. I suppose I would say my home is in England.”
    “And you are on your way to it now. Why, I don’t even know your name.”
    “Was it never mentioned?”
    “No. In the forest…”
    “I was just a passer-by then, wasn’t I? It would not have been comme il faut to exchange cards.”
    “Then on the boat…you were just there.”
    “You were rather sleepy, I think.”
    “Let’s end the mystery. What is your name?”
    He hesitated and I fancied that he did not want to tell me. There must surely be some reason why. He certainly was an enigma.
    Then he said suddenly: “It is Edward Compton.”
    “Oh…then you are English. I wondered whether you were entirely. Where is your home?”
    He said: “It is Compton Manor.”
    “Oh…is it far from here?”
    “Yes. In Suffolk. In a little village you will never have heard of.”
    “What village?”
    “Croston.”
    “No. I have never heard of it. Is it far from Bury St. Edmunds?”
    “Well…that would be the nearest town.”
    “And you are on your way there now?”
    “Yes, when I leave here.”
    “Are you staying in Canterton for a while then?”
    “I thought I would…”
    “For how long?”
    He looked at me intently and said: “That depends…”
    I felt myself flush a little. It depended on me, he was implying. The girls had said that I was the one in whom he was interested, and I had instinctively known this from our first meeting in the forest.
    “You must be staying at the Three Feathers. It is small but has a good reputation for being comfortable. I hope you will find it so.”
    “I am comfortable,” he said.
    “You must come to meet Aunt Patty.”
    “That would be my pleasure.”
    “I should be getting back now. It grows dark early.”
    “I’ll walk with you to the Manor.”
    We left the wood and took to the road. The Manor was before us. It looked beautiful in the already fading light.
    “I can see you admire it,” I said.
    “It is sad that you have to let it go,” he answered.
    “I haven’t really got used to the idea, but as Aunt Patty says it isn’t bricks and mortar that make a home. We shouldn’t be happy there worrying all the time because we couldn’t afford it, and she says that renovations would have to be done soon or it would be falling about our heads.”
    “How frustrating.”
    I stopped and smiled at him.
    “I’ll leave you here, unless you would like to come in with me now.”
    “N…no. I think it better not. Next time perhaps.”
    “Tomorrow. You might call for tea. Four o’clock. Aunt Patty makes rather a ritual of tea. She does of all meals. Come just before four.”
    “Thank you,” he said.
    Then he took my hand and bowed.
    I ran into the house without looking back. I was excited. There was something about him which was so intriguing. At last I knew his name. Edward Compton of Compton Manor. I imagined it…redbrick, essentially Tudor rather like our own Manor. No wonder he was interested in Grantley and genuinely shocked because we were having to sell. He would understand what it meant parting with a fine old house which had been one’s home for a long time.
    Tomorrow I would see him again. I would write to all the girls and tell them about this exciting meeting. There hadn’t been time on the boat to tell Lydia that I had seen him again there. I doubt whether she would have listened much. We had been so intent on disembarking and meeting those who had come to fetch us.
    Perhaps in time there might be more to tell her. I was very fascinated by the mysterious stranger.
    When I returned to the house Aunt Patty was in a state of excitement.
    “I have just had confirmation from Daisy Hetherington, who is coming to see us. She is arriving at the end of the week on her