"But you just said he went away. He didn't say where he was going. He didn't just walk out. He must have paid his bill."
"Oh, I don't know nothing about that. Bills has nothing to do with old Obadiah."
I could see I was not going to get any further with him. But he did remember Philip. That was something. There might be others at the hotel who remembered more.
I talked to several of them that morning. Most of them remembered Philip, but there did not seem to have been anything mysterious about his departure. He had just come and gone as all other visitors to the hotel did.
I wandered down to the waterfront. But I could scarcely walk up to people there and ask them if they remembered my brother. I felt frustrated, wondering if I would ever discover anything. I had pinned my hopes on Cariba and now I was here 1 seemed to have come to a full stop. Moreover there was Felicity to consider.
I walked disconsolately back to the hotel. As I mounted the steps I was met by Milton Harrington.
"I've brought a horse for you," he said. "I've arranged for it to be kept in the stables here. Come and have a look at her. How is Felicity?"
"She seems a little better. She sleeps most of the time but she seems quieter in her mind."
"Good. That's what we want."
I followed him to the stables which were at the back of the hotel, and he showed me a pleasant little chestnut mare. "Her name is Excelsior. Don't you think that is rather pleasant?"
"Very," I said.
"Don't take her out in the afternoons. It's too hot for her and for you. She is sure-footed and understands the country. She's mild and friendly."
"Of excellent character. I don't know how to thank you."
He looked at me steadily and said: "You'll find ways of expressing your gratitude."
I was silent and he went on: "In fact it is I who should be grateful to you. I am very happy because you are here. I hope you will stay a very long time."
"But I have been here for such a short one. Who knows, if I stay too long, you might want to get rid of me."
"Never. I want to marry and that would mean that you would stay with me for the rest of our lives."
"Marry me!"
"Don't look so startled. Surely you can't be. You knew my intentions."
"I knew some of them, but I was not sure that they included marriage."
"Have you been listening to tales of me?"
"Are there such tales?"
"Aren't there always? No one is immune from scandal."
"Especially someone of your importance. I have been hearing about your power, this morning."
"Oh?"
"Someone called Obadiah. He seems to hold you in great awe."
He said: "This is no place to talk of serious matters." He led me into the hall.
Rosa looked up from the counter smiling at us.
"We are going through," he said.
"There is no one there, Mr. Harrington," she replied.
"We want to talk privately. See that no one comes."
"Very good, Mr. Harrington."
She was smiling her secret smile, speculating no doubt.
He opened the door of a small room which looked over the harbour. There was a balcony with chairs on it. He shut the door and we went onto the balcony.
"We can be quiet here," he said.
"You seem to command absolute obedience here."
"Of course."
"Your natural heritage, I presume."
"Now let's be serious. I want you here... with me... forever. I want you to marry me."
"Did you go to England to look for a wife?"
"I suppose every man is subconsciously looking for a wife as soon as he understands what life is all about."
"Your search was unsuccessful then?"
"On the contrary. I found my wife on the ship coming from England, so the mission—if mission there was—was highly successful."
"Not unless she agreed. You seem to have qualms about that."
He came closer to me and put his arm about my shoulders. "I never accept defeat."
"That's a bold statement. The most determined have now and then been disappointed in their hopes."
"I know you, my dearest Annalice. You really want me... but
you won't let yourself believe it. Your experiences in Australia have affected you as well as Felicity. But life is not like that. That was not a real marriage.
"Naturally I don't think all marriages are like that—otherwise we should have a world of maniacs."
"Listen to me," he said. "You'll find the islands interesting for a while. My plan is to sell up the plantation and go home to England. We shall have to see about the children's education and we shall need to be home for that. We wouldn't want them to leave us and go away to school on the other side of the world."
I said: "I must remind you that I am engaged ... in a way ... to someone else."
"Someone who lets you go so far away!"
"There was a reason."
"What reason?"
"It is really between myself and my fiance."
"/ should never have let you go."
"I make up my own mind, you know."
"So you made up your mind to leave him. He must be what they call a laggard in love. You would find me very different."
"I have seen you here and on the ship and in Sydney," I replied. "Here you are like some little God. People are in awe of you, bowing down, almost worshipping you... and yet you behave like a callow youth in some ways."
"In love, you mean?"
"Yes. Imagining you only have to speak to me of marriage and I will thrust everything aside and say, Thank you very much.'"
"That's love," he answered. "Don't keep me in the dark. Why did you come here? And why did this fiance allow it?"
"He helped me to come."
"Why did he want you out of his way for months?"
"He helped me to come because he knew how important it was for me to do so. I will explain."
I told him about the discovery of the map and Philip's obsession with the island.
"He came out here and disappeared. I want to find out why and whether he is alive. He is my brother and we were more close to each other than most brothers and sisters. I cannot rest until I know what happened to him."
"Didn't he write?"
"His last letter was from Australia. He mentioned in it that he was going to some island and I know now that he came here to
Cariba. What I have to find out is where he went after that and what happened to him."
"You have a map, you say?"
"Yes, a copy of the one which was found in our house. I made it. It is an accurate copy. I have some knowledge of these things."
"Have you the map with you?"
"Yes. Shall I get it?"
He nodded.
I went to my room, found the map and brought it to him.
"The Paradise Island," he murmured. "This map is not correct. There is no such island."
"But it is there on the map."
"Who made the original map?"
I then told him how the room had been walled up and when it was taken down we found the map with the journal.
"You're bemused," he said, "because this girl had a name more or less the same as yours. My dear Annalice, you are a romantic after all. I am so pleased to discover this streak in you. There was a time when I thought you were all hard common sense."
"Wouldn't you have been intrigued by such a discovery?"
"Most certainly. So your brother came out on the quest and most mysteriously disappeared. He stayed here a short while... presumably he booked in like every other visitor. Where did he go from here? That is what is going to be difficult to find out. But this island ... if it exists, should not be hard to discover. You have the map. Look at it. Here we are." He pointed with his finger. "Here is Cariba, and the other islands. Here is the one which is a little apart from us and then... how far would you say this Paradise Island is? Thirty miles... according to this map. I have sailed these seas... frequently. I would say there is no land—north, south, east or west for at least one hundred miles."