It was Sunday morning at Atherstone.

In the dining-room, breakfasting alone, for he had come down late, was Sir Charles Danvers.

His sudden arrival on the previous Saturday was easily accounted for.

When he had casually walked into the drawing-room late in the evening, he had immediately and thoroughly explained the reasons of his unexpected arrival.

It seemed odd that he should have come to Atherstone, in the midland counties, "on his way" between two shooting visits in the north, but so it was.