"Immensely," I replied, watching her delightedly as she arranged the roses in carefully blended groups.
Her fingers were very delicate and tactile, and such is the character which resides in the human hand, that whereas the gestures of Madame de Stämer were curiously stimulating, there was something in the movement of Val Beverley's pretty fingers amidst the blooms which I found most soothing.
"I passed the Guest House on my return," I continued. "Do you know Mr. Camber?"
"Really? I thought he was quite unapproachable; a sort of ogre."
"On the contrary, he is a man of great charm."
"Oh," said Val Beverley, "well, since you have said so, I might as well admit that he has always seemed a charming man to me. I have never spoken to him, but he looks as though he could be very fascinating. Have you met his wife?"
"I have no idea," she replied. "I have seen her several times of course, and she is one of the daintiest creatures imaginable, but I know nothing about her nationality."
"Very young, I should say. She looks quite a child."
"The reason of my interest," I replied, "is that Mr. Camber asked me to call upon him, and I propose to do so later this morning."
Again I detected the startled expression upon Val Beverley's face.
"That is rather curious, since you are staying here."
"Well," she looked about her nervously, "I don't know the reason, but the name of Mr. Camber is anathema in Cray's Folly."
"Colonel Menendez told me last night that he had never met Mr. Camber."
Val Beverley shrugged her shoulders, a habit which it was easy to see she had acquired from Madame de Stämer.
"Perhaps not," she replied, "but I am certain he hates him."
"Yes." Her expression grew troubled. "It is another of those mysteries which seem to be part of Colonel Menendez's normal existence."
"That I cannot say, since I have never met Mr. Camber."
"And Madame de Stämer, does she share it?"
"Fully, I think. But don't ask me what it means, because I don't know."
She dismissed the subject with a light gesture and poured me out a second cup of coffee.
"I am going to leave you now," she said. "I have to justify my existence in my own eyes."
She gathered up the bunches of roses and looked down at me with a wistful expression.