"What do you mean ?" he said, in a calmer tone.
Very steadily Piers met his look.

"That's a question I should like to ask, sir," he said.

"Why do you want to go abroad?
Aren't you well ?" "I am perfectly well," declared Sir Beverley, who furiously resented any enquiry as to his health.

"Can't a man take it into his head that he'd like a change from this beastly damp hole of a country without being at death's door, I should like to know ?" "You generally have a reason for what you do, sir," observed Piers.
"Of course I have a reason," flung back Sir Beverley.
A faint smile touched the corners of Piers' mouth.

"But I am not to know what it is, what ?" he asked.
Sir Beverley glared at him.