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 DETAILED CONTENTS

Preface xxiii
Abbreviations xxv
Table of Cases xxvii
Table of Primary Legislation liii
Table of Secondary Legislation lix
Table of Protocols and Guidance lxxviii
Table of European Legislation lxxxi
Table of International Treaties and Conventions lxxxii

1 INTRODUCTION 1

A THE LEGAL PROFESSION 2

B LAWYERS’ DUTIES 2
C INITIAL INSTRUCTIONS 3
D CONFIDENTIALITY AND CONFLICT OF INTEREST 5
E PRE-ACTION CORRESPONDENCE 5
F MAIN STAGES IN COURT PROCEEDINGS 6

2 FUNDING LITIGATION 10

A DUTY TO ADVISE CLIENTS ON FUNDING 10

B TRADITIONAL RETAINER 11
C LEGAL EXPENSES INSURANCE 13
D AFTER THE EVENT INSURANCE 13
E CHAMPERTY, THE INDEMNITY PRINCIPLE, AND JACKSON 14
F CONDITIONAL FEE AGREEMENT 15
G DAMAGES-BASED AGREEMENT 16
H THIRD PARTY FUNDING 16
I LEGAL AID 17
J IRRECOVERABILITY OF COSTS OF SETTING UP FUNDING 20
Key points summary 20

3 THE CIVIL COURTS 22

A COURT COMPOSITION AND ADMINISTRATION 22

B JURISDICTION 25
C HIGH COURT DIVISIONS 28
viii Detailed Contents
D SPECIALIST COURTS 29
Key points summary 31

4 OVERRIDING OBJECTIVE AND HUMAN RIGHTS 32

A SOURCES OF PROCEDURAL LAW 32

B THE OVERRIDING OBJECTIVE 35
C ACTIVE CASE MANAGEMENT 35
D INTERPRETING THE CIVIL PROCEDURE RULES 37
E APPLICATION OF THE OVERRIDING OBJECTIVE 38
F HUMAN RIGHTS 40
G PROCEDURAL ASPECTS ON RAISING HUMAN RIGHTS POINTS 45
Key points summary 47

5 PRE-ACTION PROTOCOLS 48

A PRE-ACTION PROTOCOLS 48
B CASES NOT COVERED BY PRE-ACTION PROTOCOLS 49
C PROFESSIONAL NEGLIGENCE PRE-ACTION PROTOCOL 49
D PERSONAL INJURY PROTOCOL 52
E INSTRUCTION OF EXPERTS 53
F LIMITATION DIFFICULTIES 55
G SANCTIONS FOR NON-COMPLIANCE 55
H ROAD TRAFFIC ACT 1988 56
I MOTOR INSURERS’ BUREAU 56
J PRE-ACTION PART 36 OFFERS 57
Key points summary 58

6 ISSUING AND SERVING 59

A CLAIM FORM 59
B JURISDICTIONAL ENDORSEMENTS 62
C PARTICULARS OF CLAIM 62
D SPECIALIST CLAIMS 62
E ISSUING A CLAIM FORM 65
F SERVICE 66
G SERVICE OF THE CLAIM FORM 67
H DEEMED DATE OF SERVICE OF THE CLAIM FORM 78
I SERVICE OF DOCUMENTS OTHER THAN A CLAIM FORM 79
J DEEMED DATE OF SERVICE (NON-CLAIM FORM DOCUMENTS) 79
 Detailed Contents ix

K CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE 80
L IRREGULAR SERVICE 80
M FILING 82
Key points summary 83

7 RENEWAL OF PROCESS 84

A POWER TO RENEW 84
B CLAIMS IN RESPECT OF CARGO 87
C MULTIPLE DEFENDANTS 87
D EFFECT OF STAY 87
E PROCEDURE ON SEEKING AN EXTENSION 87
F CHALLENGING AN ORDER GRANTING AN EXTENSION 88

8 PART 8 CLAIMS AND PETITIONS 89

A PART 8 CLAIMS 89
B PETITIONS 91
C WINDING-UP PETITIONS 91

9 PERSONAL INJURY CLAIMS UNDER £25,000 99

A CASES COVERED BY THE RTA AND EL/PL PROTOCOLS 100

B RTA PROTOCOL 100
C STAGE 1: CLAIM NOTIFICATION 101
D STAGE 2: MEDICAL EVIDENCE AND NEGOTIATION 104
E STAGE 3: PART 8 CLAIM TO DETERMINE QUANTUM 106
F CHILD SETTLEMENT APPLICATIONS 108
G LIMITATION 109
H FIXED COSTS UNDER THE RTA AND EL/PL PROTOCOLS 109
I CASES WHERE PARTIES CAN STOP FOLLOWING THE RTA OR EL/PL PROTOCOLS 109
Key points summary 110

10 ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION 111

A ADR PROCESSES 111

B ADR OR COURT PROCEEDINGS 112
C COST OF ADR 114
D REFERENCE TO ADR 114
E COURT INVOLVEMENT IN ADR 115
Key points summary 117
x Detailed Contents

11 SERVICE OUTSIDE THE JURISDICTION 118

A SERVICE ON A FOREIGN DEFENDANT WITHIN THE JURISDICTION 119

B SUBMISSION TO THE JURISDICTION 119
C CASES OUTSIDE THE GENERAL RULES 120
D RECAST JUDGMENTS REGULATION 121
E ASSUMED JURISDICTION 124
F SERVICE ABROAD 127
G PREVENTING CONFLICTS IN JURISDICTION 128
H INTERIM RELIEF IN SUPPORT OF FOREIGN PROCEEDINGS 130
I JUDGMENT IN DEFAULT 131
Key points summary 131

12 RESPONDING TO A CLAIM 132

A TIME FOR RESPONDING 132

B ADMISSIONS 132
C DEFENCES 133
D ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF SERVICE 133
E AGREED EXTENSIONS 134
F DISPUTING SERVICE OR THE COURT’S JURISDICTION 134
G TRANSFER 135
H SPECIALIST CLAIMS 136
Key points summary 136

13 DEFAULT JUDGMENT 137

A WHEN DEFAULT JUDGMENT MAY BE ENTERED 137

B EXCLUDED CASES 139
C PROCEDURE FOR ENTERING DEFAULT JUDGMENT 139
D FINAL JUDGMENT AND JUDGMENT FOR AN AMOUNT TO BE DECIDED 141
E DECIDING THE AMOUNT OF DAMAGES: DISPOSAL HEARINGS 142
F SETTING ASIDE DEFAULT JUDGMENTS 143
G STAY OF UNDEFENDED CASES 146
Key points summary 146

14 STATEMENTS OF CASE 147

A FORM OF STATEMENTS OF CASE 148

B PARTICULARS OF CLAIM 151
 Detailed Contents xi

C DEFENCE 154
D COUNTERCLAIMS AND SET-OFFS 157
E REPLY AND DEFENCE TO COUNTERCLAIM 159
F SUBSEQUENT STATEMENTS OF CASE 159
G DISPENSING WITH STATEMENTS OF CASE 159
H SCOTT SCHEDULES 160
I INTERRELATION WITH CASE MANAGEMENT 160
J USE OF STATEMENTS OF CASE AT TRIAL 161

15 TRACK ALLOCATION AND CASE MANAGEMENT 162

A PROCEDURAL JUDGES 163

B DOCKETING 163
C PROVISIONAL TRACK ALLOCATION 164
D FILING DIRECTIONS QUESTIONNAIRES 164
E TRACK ALLOCATION 173
F ALLOCATION RULES 174
G NOTICE OF ALLOCATION 176
H ALLOCATION DIRECTIONS 176
I ADR AND STAYS TO ALLOW FOR SETTLEMENT 177
J TRANSFER TO APPROPRIATE COURT 178
K TRIAL IN THE ROYAL COURTS OF JUSTICE OR ROLLS BUILDING 178
L CHANGING TRACKS 178
M SUBSEQUENT CASE MANAGEMENT 179
N PRE-TRIAL CHECKLISTS 179
O SHORTER TRIALS AND FLEXIBLE TRIALS SCHEMES 181
Key points summary 182

16 COSTS MANAGEMENT 183

A ELEMENTS OF COSTS MANAGEMENT 184

B CASES GOVERNED BY COSTS MANAGEMENT 184
C COSTS BUDGETS 185
D COSTS MANAGEMENT ORDERS 187
E COSTS BUDGETS AND CASE MANAGEMENT 188
F JUDICIAL CONTROL OF COSTS BUDGETS 189
G IMPACT ON COSTS ORDERS 189
Key points summary 190
xii Detailed Contents

17 COSTS CAPPING AND PROTECTION 191

A COSTS CAPPING ORDERS 191

B BEDDOE ORDERS 192
C PROTECTIVE COSTS ORDERS 193
D JUDICIAL REVIEW COSTS CAPPING 194
E AARHUS CONVENTION CASES 194
F COSTS LIMITATION ORDERS 195
Key points summary 195

18 REQUESTS FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 196

A THE REQUEST FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 197

B THE RESPONSE 198
C OBJECTING TO REQUESTS 200
D ORDERS FOR RESPONSES 200
E PRINCIPLES 201
F COLLATERAL USE 202

19 PARTIES AND JOINDER 203

A DESCRIPTION OF PARTIES 203

B PARTICULAR CLASSES OF PARTY 203
C LITIGANTS IN PERSON 213
D VEXATIOUS LITIGANTS 214
E JOINDER 214
F REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDINGS 215
G REPRESENTATION OF UNASCERTAINED PERSONS 216
H INTERVENTION 216
I CONSOLIDATION 217
J STAKEHOLDER CLAIMS 217
K ASSIGNMENT 218
L GROUP LITIGATION 219
Key points summary 219

20 ADDITIONAL CLAIMS UNDER PART 20 221

A NATURE OF ADDITIONAL CLAIMS 221

B RELATED PROCEDURES 221
C SCOPE OF PART 20 222
 Detailed Contents xiii

D STATEMENTS OF CASE IN ADDITIONAL CLAIMS 226

E CONTRIBUTION NOTICES 228
F PROCEDURE 228
G RELATION TO THE MAIN CLAIM 230
Key points summary 230

21 LIMITATION 231

A LIMITATION PERIODS 231

B ACCRUAL OF CAUSE OF ACTION 235
C CALCULATING THE LIMITATION PERIOD 241
D DISCRETION 244
E EQUITABLE REMEDIES, LACHES, AND ACQUIESCENCE 247
Key points summary 248

22 AMENDMENT 249

A AMENDMENT BY CONSENT 249

B AMENDMENT WITHOUT PERMISSION 249
C PRINCIPLES GOVERNING PERMISSION TO AMEND 250
D AMENDMENT AFTER THE EXPIRY OF THE LIMITATION PERIOD 254
E PROCEDURE ON AMENDING 259
Key points summary 260

23 INTERIM APPLICATIONS 261

A JURISDICTIONAL RULES 262

B TIME TO APPLY 262
C PRE-ACTION INTERIM REMEDIES 263
D OBLIGATION TO APPLY EARLY 263
E APPLICATIONS WITHOUT NOTICE 264
F APPLICATIONS WITH NOTICE 267
G INTERIM HEARINGS 274
H SUMMARY DETERMINATION OF INTERIM COSTS 275
I VARYING OR REVOKING INTERIM ORDERS 276
Key points summary 276

24 SUMMARY JUDGMENT 277

A TIME FOR APPLYING FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT 277

B DEFENDANT’S APPLICATION: NO DEFAULT JUDGMENT 278
xiv Detailed Contents
C EXCLUDED PROCEEDINGS 278
D PROCEDURE 279
E ORDERS AVAILABLE 279
F AMENDMENT AT HEARING 289
G SOME OTHER COMPELLING REASON FOR A TRIAL 289
H DIRECTIONS ON SUMMARY JUDGMENT HEARING 290
I SPECIFIC PERFORMANCE, RESCISSION, AND FORFEITURE IN PROPERTY CASES 290
Key points summary 290

25 INTERIM PAYMENTS 291

A PROCEDURE 291
B GROUNDS 292
C AMOUNT TO BE ORDERED 294
D FURTHER APPLICATIONS 295
E NON-DISCLOSURE 295
F ADJUSTMENT 296
Key points summary 296

26 SECURITY FOR COSTS 297

A PROCEDURE 297
B THE RESPONDENT 299
C CONDITIONS FOR GRANTING SECURITY FOR COSTS 299
D DISCRETION TO ORDER SECURITY FOR COSTS 302
E AMOUNT 304
F ORDER 305
G SUCCESS BY THE CLAIMANT 305
Key points summary 305

27 SMALL CLAIMS TRACK 306

A PROVISIONS OF THE CPR THAT DO NOT APPLY 306

B STANDARD DIRECTIONS 307
C SPECIAL DIRECTIONS 307
D DETERMINATION WITHOUT A HEARING 308
E FINAL HEARINGS 308
F COSTS 308
G REHEARINGS 309
 Detailed Contents xv

28 FAST TRACK 310

A ALLOCATION DIRECTIONS 310

B LISTING DIRECTIONS 313
C STANDARD FAST TRACK TIMETABLE 313
D AGREED DIRECTIONS 314
E VARYING THE DIRECTIONS TIMETABLE 314
F LISTING FOR TRIAL 314
G FAST TRACK TRIALS 315
H COSTS IN FAST TRACK CASES 316
Key points summary 316

29 MULTI-TRACK 317

A AGREED DIRECTIONS 317

B CASE MANAGEMENT CONFERENCES 319
C FIXING THE DATE FOR TRIAL 322
D PRE-TRIAL CHECKLISTS 322
E LISTING HEARINGS 323
F PRE-TRIAL REVIEW 323
G DIRECTIONS GIVEN AT OTHER HEARINGS 324
H VARIATION OF CASE MANAGEMENT TIMETABLE 325
Key points summary 325

30 STRIKING OUT, DISCONTINUANCE, AND STAYS 326

A THE MAIN RULE 327

B PROCEDURE ON APPLICATIONS MADE BY PARTIES 327
C REFERENCES BY COURT OFFICERS 328
D GENERAL TEST 328
E NO REASONABLE GROUNDS FOR BRINGING OR DEFENDING THE CLAIM 329
F ABUSE OF PROCESS 330
G OBSTRUCTING THE JUST DISPOSAL OF THE PROCEEDINGS 333
H POWERS AFTER A STRIKING-OUT ORDER IS MADE 333
I DISCONTINUANCE 334
J STAYS 335
Key points summary 337
xvi Detailed Contents

31 DISCLOSURE 338

A LAWYERS’ RESPONSIBILITIES 341

B CLIENTS’ RESPONSIBILITIES 342
C STAGE WHEN DISCLOSURE TAKES PLACE 342
D DISCLOSURE ORDERS 342
E STANDARD DISCLOSURE 343
F MENU OPTION DISCLOSURE 345
G BUSINESS AND PROPERTY COURT DISCLOSURE 348
H DUTY TO SEARCH 349
I LIST OF DOCUMENTS 350
J PRIVILEGE 351
K INSPECTION 360
L ORDERS IN SUPPORT OF DISCLOSURE 360
M DOCUMENTS REFERRED TO IN STATEMENTS OF CASE, ETC. 362
N ADMISSION OF AUTHENTICITY 362
O COLLATERAL USE 362
Key points summary 363

32 WITNESS STATEMENTS, AFFIDAVITS, AND DEPOSITIONS 364

A TYPES OF WRITTEN EVIDENCE 364

B WITNESS STATEMENTS 365
C WITNESS SUMMARIES 369
D AFFIDAVITS AND AFFIRMATIONS 370
E DEPOSITIONS 371

33 HEARSAY 372

A THE HEARSAY RULE 372

B REAL EVIDENCE 373
C ADMISSIBILITY OF HEARSAY EVIDENCE 373
D NOTICE PROCEDURE 375
E TRIAL 377
Key points summary 378

34 ADMISSIONS AND DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE 379

A NATURE OF ADMISSIONS 379

B PRE-ACTION ADMISSIONS OF LIABILITY 380
C PERMISSION TO WITHDRAW AN ADMISSION 380
 Detailed Contents xvii

D NOTICE TO ADMIT FACTS 381

E PROVING DOCUMENTS 383

35 EXPERTS 385

A ADMISSIBILITY OF EXPERT EVIDENCE 385

B CONTROL OF EVIDENCE 388
C PRIVILEGED NATURE OF EXPERTS’ REPORTS 388
D DISCLOSURE OF EXPERTS’ REPORTS 389
E WRITTEN QUESTIONS TO EXPERTS 393
F WITHOUT PREJUDICE DISCUSSION 394
G EXAMINATIONS BY EXPERTS 394
H TRIAL 396
I EXPERTS’ IMMUNITY FROM SUIT 398
J USE OF EXPERTS’ REPORTS AFTER TRIAL 398
Key points summary 398

36 OFFERS TO SETTLE 399

A INTRODUCTION 399
B CALDERBANK OFFERS 400
C OFFERS TO SETTLE 400
D MAKING A PART 36 OFFER 407
E ACCEPTANCE OF A PART 36 OFFER 407
F REJECTIONS, COUNTER-OFFERS, AND SUBSEQUENT OFFERS 409
G WITHDRAWAL AND CHANGE OF PART 36 OFFERS 409
H FAILING TO OBTAIN JUDGMENT MORE ADVANTAGEOUS THAN
A PART 36 OFFER 410
I ADVISING ON PART 36 OFFERS 412
J NON-DISCLOSURE TO JUDGE 413
K PART 36 OFFERS IN APPEALS 413
Key points summary 413

37 SANCTIONS 414

A NON-COMPLIANCE WITH PRE-ACTION PROTOCOLS 414

B NON-COMPLIANCE WITH THE CPR 414
C NON-COMPLIANCE WITH DIRECTIONS 415
D PRESERVATION OF TRIAL DATE 416
xviii Detailed Contents
E APPLICATION FOR SANCTIONS 416
F UNLESS ORDERS 418
G NON-COMPLIANCE WITH AN UNLESS ORDER 418
H EXTENDING TIME AND CORRECTING ERRORS 419
I RELIEF FROM SANCTIONS AND SETTING ASIDE 420
J IMPLIED SANCTIONS DOCTRINE 422
Key points summary 423

38 LISTING AND PRE-TRIAL REVIEWS 424

A LISTING FOR TRIAL 424

B PRE-TRIAL REVIEWS 428
C LISTING IN THE ROYAL COURTS OF JUSTICE 428
D ADJOURNMENTS 428

39 TRIAL 429

A WITNESSES 429
B TRIAL DOCUMENTATION 432
C TRIAL LOCATION 433
D ALLOCATION TO JUDICIARY 434
E IMPARTIALITY OF JUDGE 434
F PUBLIC OR PRIVATE HEARING 435
G RIGHTS OF AUDIENCE AND THE RIGHT TO CONDUCT LITIGATION 436
H McKENZIE FRIENDS 436
I CONDUCT OF THE TRIAL 437
J PRELIMINARY ISSUES 440
K TRIAL BY JURY 441
L NON-ATTENDANCE AT TRIAL 442
Key points summary 442

40 REFERENCES TO THE COURT OF JUSTICE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION 443

A QUESTIONS WHICH MAY BE REFERRED 443

B MANDATORY REFERENCES 443
C DISCRETIONARY REFERENCES 444
D PROCEDURE IN ENGLAND 446
E PROCEDURE IN THE COURT OF JUSTICE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION 447
F COSTS 447
 Detailed Contents xix

41 JUDGMENTS AND ORDERS 448

A SETTLEMENTS 448
B ORDERS MADE AT HEARINGS 449
C FORM OF JUDGMENTS AND ORDERS 450
D GENERAL RULES RELATING TO DRAWING UP ORDERS AND JUDGMENTS 455
E REGISTER OF JUDGMENTS 457
Key points summary 457

42 INTERIM INJUNCTIONS 458

A JUDGES ABLE TO GRANT INJUNCTIONS 459

B PRE-ACTION APPLICATIONS FOR INTERIM INJUNCTIONS 459
C APPLICATIONS DURING PROCEEDINGS 461
D PRINCIPLES 462
E DEFENCES 474
F THE ORDER 475
G UNDERTAKINGS 477
H INQUIRY AS TO DAMAGES 478
I DISCHARGE 479
J BREACH 479
K EFFECT OF NOT APPLYING FOR INTERIM RELIEF 480
Key points summary 480

43 FREEZING INJUNCTIONS 481

A PROCEDURE 481
B PRINCIPLES 482
C THE ORDER 486
D EFFECT OF THE ORDER 490
E VARIATION OR DISCHARGE OF A FREEZING INJUNCTION 490
F FREEZING INJUNCTIONS AFTER JUDGMENT 491
G PROPRIETARY CLAIMS 492
H WRIT NE EXEAT REGNO 492
Key points summary 492

44 SEARCH ORDERS 493

A PROCEDURE 493
B PRINCIPLES 494
xx Detailed Contents
C REAL RISK OF DESTRUCTION 495
D FORM OF THE ORDER 496
E PRACTICE ON EXECUTION OF SEARCH ORDERS 496
F PRIVILEGE 498
G DISCHARGE AND VARIATION OF SEARCH ORDERS 499
H AFTER EXECUTION 499
I COLLATERAL USE 500
Key points summary 500

45 NORWICH PHARMACAL AND RELATED DISCLOSURE ORDERS 501

A NORWICH PHARMACAL ORDERS 501

B MERE WITNESS RULE 504
C BANKERS TRUST ORDERS 504
D DISCLOSURE BEFORE PROCEEDINGS START 505
E DISCLOSURE BY NON-PARTIES 507
F DISCLOSURE OF MEDIATION EVIDENCE 508
G INSPECTION OF PROPERTY DURING PROCEEDINGS 508
H INTERIM DELIVERY-UP OF GOODS 509
Key points summary 510

46 COSTS 511

A COSTS ORDERS: GENERAL PRINCIPLES 512

B COSTS FOLLOW THE EVENT 514
C RANGE OF POSSIBLE COSTS ORDERS 517
D INTERIM COSTS ORDERS 518
E INFORMING THE CLIENT 520
F INDEMNITY PRINCIPLE 520
G BASIS OF QUANTIFICATION 521
H PROPORTIONALITY 521
I SUMMARY ASSESSMENT 522
J DETAILED ASSESSMENT 523
K FAST TRACK FIXED COSTS 524
L FIXED AND SCALE COSTS 525
M COSTS AND TRACK ALLOCATION 525
N PUBLICLY FUNDED LITIGANTS 525
O PRO BONO COSTS ORDERS 526
P COSTS AGAINST NON-PARTIES 526
 Detailed Contents xxi

Q WASTED COSTS ORDERS 526

Key points summary 528

47 QUALIFIED ONE-WAY COSTS SHIFTING 529

A CASES WHERE QOCS APPLIES 529

B EFFECT OF QOCS 530
C LOSS OF QOCS PROTECTION 532
Key points summary 533

48 ENFORCEMENT 534

A ENFORCEMENT OF MONEY JUDGMENTS 534

B ENFORCEMENT OF JUDGMENTS FOR THE DELIVERY OF GOODS 543
C ENFORCEMENT OF JUDGMENTS FOR THE POSSESSION OF LAND 543
D RECEIVERS BY WAY OF EQUITABLE EXECUTION 544
E CONTEMPT OF COURT 544
F ENFORCEMENT OF FOREIGN JUDGMENTS 546
Key points summary 547

49 JUDICIAL REVIEW 548

A PARTIES 548
B LOCUS STANDI 549
C PUBLIC LAW 549
D REMEDIES IN JUDICIAL REVIEW 551
E JUDICIAL REVIEW PRE-ACTION PROTOCOL 552
F APPLYING FOR PERMISSION TO PROCEED 553
G SUBSTANTIVE HEARING 555
H CONVERSION TO A COMMON LAW CLAIM 557
I CONSENT ORDERS 558
Key points summary 558

50 APPEALS 559

A ROUTES OF APPEAL 560

B PERMISSION TO APPEAL 561
C TIME FOR APPEALING 564
D PROCEDURE ON APPEALING 565
E RESPONDENT’S NOTICE 566
F APPLICATIONS WITHIN APPEALS 567
xxii Detailed Contents
G STAY 568
H STRIKING OUT APPEAL NOTICES AND SETTING ASIDE OR
IMPOSING CONDITIONS 568
I HEARING OF APPEALS 568
J APPEAL COURT’S POWERS 571
K APPEALS BY WAY OF CASE STATED 573
L APPEALS TO THE SUPREME COURT 573
Key points summary 574

Index 575
 PREFACE

Any lawyer practising in the civil courts needs a thorough grasp of practice and procedure.
Indeed, knowledge of procedure is probably as important as knowledge of the substantive
law. It is not sufficient to have a strong case on the law and facts. It is also important to
be able to advance a claim effectively and efficiently from its early stages through to trial
(if needs be) in order to ensure the client attains the best result possible given the strengths
and weaknesses of the case. Every year a great many cases are won and lost on purely pro-
cedural grounds. Further, good use of court procedure can result in a case being materially
strengthened. The converse is that poor use of procedure can cause avoidable harm to the
client’s prospects of success.
Civil procedure can be a very daunting subject. First, there are a number of statutes
dealing with the jurisdiction of the civil courts. Secondly, there is a substantial rule book
comprising detailed rules of court (the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 (SI 1998/3132))
supplemented by numerous practice directions. The Rules and practice directions are
available at <http://www.justice.gov.uk>. They are also printed in full in practitioners’
books, such as Blackstone’s Civil Practice and the White Book. There are also official
court guides that deal with the practice, sometimes in considerable detail, in the Queen’s
Bench and Chancery Divisions of the High Court and also the specialist courts, such
as the Commercial Court. Statutory provisions, rules, and practice directions can only
deal with what should happen in the general run of cases. The courts are, on a day-to-
day basis, faced with claims that are unusual, with cases where exceptions should be
made to rules worded in a general way or where a more sophisticated approach may
be required, and with cases that have not been conducted fully in accordance with the
rules. There is therefore a substantial body of relevant case law dealing with procedural
issues. Furthermore, there are some areas where procedural and substantive law issues
converge.
What the student and newly qualified litigator need is an accessible introduction to the
subject. I hope this new edition of this book will continue to perform this function. It
seeks to explain the various procedures that either may or must be followed as a claim
progresses from its early stages through its interim stages and on to trial, enforcement,
and any possible appeal in a straightforward way, but with sufficient detail for the new
practitioner to be able to cope with most problems that commonly arise. A number of
forms and precedents are included in this book to bring to life the procedures that are
discussed. Often they are far shorter than ones that would be met in practice in order to
concentrate on what the documents look like, and it should also be borne in mind that
there are usually several different approaches used by different lawyers in drafting court
documents.
The 22nd edition includes all the changes up to those published on 10 March 2019.
These include a range of statutory instruments and updates to the Civil Procedure Rules
and practice directions, up to and including the Civil Procedure (Amendment) Rules
2019 and the 105th Update. I have included references to the SRA Standards and Regu-
lations 2019, which were published in draft in February 2019. These are expected to
come into force in July 2019. I am grateful to Derek French, who referred me to the
Civil Procedure Rules 1998 (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019, which were laid
xxiv Preface
before Parliament on 8 March 2019. Whether these Regulations actually come into force
depends on what transpires on the Brexit arrangements, so I have made only passing
references to the Regulations in this edition.
Over the years I have benefitted from the expertise and experience of numerous colleagues
at the Treasury Solicitor’s Office, chambers, and the City Law School. Carlotta Fanton and
the staff of Oxford University Press have done an excellent job in the preparation of the
new edition. I am especially grateful to my wife Wendy for her encouragement and support
during the period when the book was being written.
Stuart Sime
London
March 2019
 Another Random Document on
Scribd Without Any Related Topics
'I don't know anything about geography,' Margaret said, and her
wrath, which had been smouldering sullenly for days, began to glow
again.
'Margaret,' said Mrs. Rushmore, 'you surprise me! You were very well
taught——'
But the Primadonna did not hear the long tirade of mild reproof that
followed. She knew well enough where Gibraltar was, and that
Logotheti was going all the way round to the Mediterranean on his
yacht with some one for company, and that the voyage was a long
one. After what Lady Maud had said, there was not the least doubt
in her mind as to his companion, who could be no one but Baraka.
He had been told that he was not wanted at Bayreuth, and he was
celebrating the sunset of his bachelor life in his own way. That was
clear. If he received the telegram that had just been sent to him, he
would get it at Gibraltar, should he stop there, and as for answering
it before Margaret left Bayreuth, she was inclined to make such a
thing impossible by going away the next morning, if not that very
night.
Her angry reflexions and Mrs. Rushmore's lecture on the importance
of geography in education were interrupted by the discreet entrance
of Mr. Van Torp, who was announced and ushered to the door by
Justine in a grand French manner. On the threshold, however, he
stood still and asked if he might come in; being pressed to do so, he
yielded, advanced, and sat down between the two ladies.
'Mr. Van Torp,' said Mrs. Rushmore, 'I insist upon knowing what has
become of Countess Leven.'
'I don't know, Mrs. Rushmore,' answered the millionaire, slowly
rubbing his hands. 'I haven't spoken to her since I brought her from
the station. I daresay she's all right. She's most probably gone to
take a walk. She often does in the country, I know—her father's
country seat is next to mine, Mrs. Rushmore. I hope you'll pay me a
visit some day. Why, yes, Lady Maud sometimes goes off alone and
walks miles and miles.'
'There, Margaret,' said Mrs. Rushmore triumphantly, 'what did I tell
you? Mr. Van Torp says the Countess often walks for miles and
miles.'
'Why, certainly,' said Mr. Van Torp, 'though I'm bound to say she's
just as fond of horseback. Her friends generally call her Lady Maud,
Mrs. Rushmore. Perhaps you won't mind my telling you, as she
prefers it a good deal herself. You see, I've had the pleasure of
knowing her several years, so I daresay you'll forgive me for
mentioning it.'
'I think it is quite kind of you, on the contrary,' answered Mrs.
Rushmore. 'Margaret, why did you never tell me of this? Had you
any reason for not telling me?'
'I don't think I noticed what you called her,' Margaret answered
patiently.
'Because if you had any reason,' said Mrs. Rushmore, following her
own thoughts, 'I insist upon knowing what it was.'
'Well, now, I'll tell you,' rejoined Mr. Van Torp, to save Margaret the
trouble of answering the futile little speech, 'her husband didn't treat
her very well. There's not a purer woman in the six continents, Mrs.
Rushmore, but he tried to divorce her, because he'd lost his money,
if he ever had any, and she has none, and he wanted to marry an
heiress. However, they automobilised him, or something, in St.
Petersburg last June.'
'Auto—what did you say?' inquired Mrs. Rushmore.
'Killed by an automobile,' explained Mr. Van Torp gravely. 'But now I
come to think, it wasn't that. He got blown up by a bomb meant for
a better man. It was quite instantaneous, I recollect. His head
disappeared suddenly, and the greater part of him was scattered
around, but they found his pocket-book with his cards and things, so
they knew who it was. It was driven through somebody else's hat on
the other side of the street, wasn't it, Miss Donne? Things must have
been quite lively just then, where it happened. I supposed you
knew.'
Mrs. Rushmore explained that she had never heard any details.
'Besides,' said Mr. Van Torp, in answer, though not quite relevantly,
'everybody always calls her "Lady Maud" instead of "Countess
Leven," which she has on her cards.'
'She would naturally use the higher title,' observed Mrs. Rushmore
reverently.
'Well, now, about that,' objected Mr. Van Torp, 'I'm bound to say I
think the daughter of an English earl as good as a Russian count,
anywhere west of Siberia. I don't know how they figure those things
out at courts when they have to balance 'em up for seats at a
dinner-party, of course. It's just my impression, that's all, as a
business man. He's dead anyway, and one needn't make personal
remarks about dead men. All the same, it was a happy release for
Lady Maud, and I doubt if she sits up all night mourning for him.
Have you been out this afternoon, Miss Donne?'
He changed the subject with extreme directness, and Mrs.
Rushmore, who was used to the dictatorial ways of lions, took the
hint submissively enough, though she would have been glad to
discuss the relative and intrinsic values of the designations 'Lady
Maud' and 'Countess Leven.' But it was much more important that
the lion should be left alone with Margaret as much as possible, and
the excellent lady therefore remembered that she had something to
do and left them.
'I had a little talk with Kralinsky before he left,' said Van Torp, when
she was gone. 'He says he'll meet us in Venice any time in the next
few days. He's just going to run over to Vienna in his sudden-death-
cart for twenty-four hours; then he'll go south, he says. He ran me
up to the hotel and dropped me. I daresay you heard the toots. I
thought I saw Lady Maud looking out of the window of your room as
I got out.'
'Yes,' Margaret said. 'But how do you know that is my window?'
'In the first place, I've counted the windows. I felt a sort of interest
in knowing which was yours. And then, I often see your maid
opening the shutters in the morning.'
'Oh!' Margaret smiled. 'Did you notice anything unusual about Lady
Maud when you saw her?' she asked, for she knew that he had good
eyes.
'Since you mention it, I thought she looked as if she didn't feel quite
up to the mark—pale, I thought she was.'
'Yes,' Margaret said. 'She felt ill for a moment, and I thought she
was going to faint. But it passed almost directly, and she insisted on
going for a walk.'
'Oh,' mused Mr. Van Torp, 'is that so? Well, I daresay it was the best
thing she could do. I was telling you about Kralinsky. He's not Levi
Longlegs after all, and I'm not sure he was ever in the West.'
'I thought it sounded unlikely,' Margaret said.
'I asked him, just like that, in a friendly way, and he thought a
moment and made an effort to recollect, and then he seemed quite
pleased to remember that I'd been "Fanny" and he'd been Levi
Longlegs, and that he used to whistle things out of Parsifal by the
fire of an evening.'
'Well—but in that case-—' Margaret stopped with an inquiring look.
'Just so,' continued Van Torp, nodding. 'Did you ever attend a trial
and hear a witness being cross-examined by a lawyer who wants
him to remember something, and he wants to remember it himself,
but can't, because he never heard of it before in his life? It's quite
funny. The lawyer makes steps for him and puts his feet into them
so that he gets along nicely, unless the judge happens to wake up
and kick, and then the little game stops right there, and somebody
laughs. Well, my talk with Kralinsky was like that, only there was no
judge, so he went away happy; and we're old friends now, and
punched cows on the same ranch, and he's coming on my yacht. I
only wonder why he was so anxious to remember all that, and why
he thought it would be kind of friendly if I called him Levi Longlegs
again, and he called me Fanny Cook. I wonder! He says he's still
very fond of Parsifal, and came on purpose to hear it, but that he's
completely forgotten how to whistle. That's funny too. I just thought
I'd tell you, because if you come on my yacht and he comes too,
you're liable to see quite a good deal of one another.'
'Did you tell him that Mrs. Rushmore and I would come?' Margaret
asked. 'And Lady Maud?'
'Why, no. You've not promised yet, any more than you did last night
when he was there and we talked about it, so how could I? I forgot
to mention Lady Maud to him, or else I thought I wouldn't—I forget
which. It doesn't matter.'
'No.' Margaret smiled. 'Not a little bit!'
'You seem amused,' observed Mr. Van Torp.
'By your way of putting it, and your pretending to forget such a
thing.'
'It wasn't quite true that I forgot, but I wanted to, so I didn't say
anything about her. That's why I put it in that way. I don't choose to
leave you any doubt about what I say, or mean, even in the smallest
things. The moment you feel the least doubt about the perfect
accuracy of anything I tell you, even if it's not at all a downright lie
or anything resembling one, you won't trust me at all, in anything.
Because, if you trust me, you'll end by liking me, and if you don't
trust me you'll go back to thinking that I'm the Beast out of
Revelations, or something, as you used to. I've forgotten the Beast's
number.'
Margaret smiled again, though she was continually conscious of her
own sullenly smouldering anger against Logotheti. Van Torp was
gaining influence over her in his own uncouth way. Logotheti had
been able to play upon her moods, as on that day under the elm-
tree at Versailles, and she blushed when she remembered that single
kiss he had won from her. But the American had no idea of such
tactics in love, for he had never learned them. He was making war
on the modern scientific system of never losing a hair's-breadth of
ground once gained, keeping his communications constantly open
with the base from which he had started, bringing up fresh forces to
the front without intermission, and playing his heavy artillery with
judgment and tenacity.
'The number doesn't matter,' Margaret said, 'for I've forgotten all
about the Beast.'
'Thank you,' answered Mr. Van Torp. 'To change the subject—I've got
a little scheme to propose. Maybe you'll think well of it. Anyhow, as
it's a mere matter of business connected with your career, you won't
mind my explaining it to you, will you?'
'No, indeed!' Margaret was interested at once. 'Do tell me!' she said,
leaning forward a little.
'Well,' he began, 'I've looked around this place a good deal since I've
been here, and I've come to the conclusion that it's not very well
done, anyhow, except Parsifal. That's what most of the people really
come for. I'm informed that they give all the other operas better in
Munich, with the advantage of being in what you may call a Christian
town, compared with this. Is that correct, do you think?'
'Yes, I believe so.'
'It is, you can depend upon it. Now, what I want to know is, why
you and I shouldn't go into a little business partnership, and do this
kind of thing brown, as it ought to be done.' Margaret opened her
handsome eyes wide. 'Because,' continued Mr. Van Torp, as coolly as
if he were explaining a new plan to a board of directors, 'we've got
the capital and the ability between us, and there's a demand in New
York for what I propose to do. It'll fill a want, I know, and that
means success and money. Why don't we build a theatre together?
When I say a theatre, I mean a first-class opera-house and not a
barn. We'll employ the best architects to build it, and, of course, I'd
leave everything about it to you. I've got a block in New York just
about in the right place, and it won't take long to build. I'll give the
land and put up the money for the building, if you'll undertake the
management. You'll put in any money you like, of course, and we'll
share the profits. Maybe they'll be quite handsome, for we'll lease
the theatre to other people outside of the season. We'll have the
best talent in Europe, and pay for it, and the public will pay us back.
We'll call it the Cordova Opera, if you like, and you'll run it according
to your own ideas, and sing or not, whenever you please.'
'Are you in earnest?'
Margaret had some difficulty in pronouncing the words clearly. He
had brought up some very heavy artillery indeed, and at the right
moment. Was there ever a great soprano who did not dream of
having the most perfect theatre of her very own, and who could
receive unmoved the offer to build one from a man who could build
twenty if he chose? Very rarely in her life had she been aware of her
bodily heart, but she could feel it now, beating like a hammer on the
anvil.
'I'm in earnest,' Van Torp answered with perfect calm. 'I've thought
the whole thing over in all its aspects, just as I would a railroad, or a
canal, or a mine, and I've concluded to try it, if you'll help me,
because it's going to be a safe investment. You see, Miss Donne,' he
went on slowly, 'there's no artist on the Grand Opera stage now
who's so well equipped for the business as you are. I'm not flattering
you, either. In your own kind of parts you've simply got no rival.
Everybody says so, and I suppose you won't play kitty and deny it.
Let's start fair, now.'
'It would be silly to deny that I'm one of the first,' Margaret
admitted.
'That'll do, thank you. One of the first, and the first is one of them,
and you're it. Besides, you've got before you what's behind most of
them. You're young. I'm not talking about your personal appearance,
but that's just one more item in the assets. Another big one is that
you're a first-class musician, whereas half these singers can only
bang the box like great, thundering, overgrown schoolgirls. Allow
that?'
'I suppose I must "allow" anything!' laughed the Primadonna.
'Well, now, I've told you. You've got the name I need, and you've
got the voice, and the talent, and you've got the science and culture.
I suppose you'll let me say that I've got the business ability, won't
you?'
The iron mouth smiled a little grimly.
'Rather! I fancy some people have wished you had less!'
'And the money's here, for I always have a blank cheque in my
pocket. If you like, I'll fill it in, and we'll deposit it wherever you say,
in the name of the "Cordova Opera Company," or "Madame da
Cordova, Rufus Van Torp and Co." We can make out our little
agreement in duplicate right here, on the corner of the table, and
sign it; and before we leave here you might go around and speak to
the best singers about an engagement in New York for a Wagner
festival, a year from next Christmas. That's business, and this is a
purely business proposition. If you'd like to think it over, I'll go and
take a little walk before dinner.'
'It sounds like a dream!' Margaret answered, in a wondering tone.
'Money's an awful reality,' Van Torp remarked. 'I'm talking business,
and as I'm the one who's going to put up most of the capital, you'll
do me the credit to believe that I'm quite wide awake.'
'Do you really, really, really mean it?' She spoke almost like a child.
It was not the first time in his life that the financier had seen the
stunning effect of a big sum, projected with precision, like a shell, at
exactly the right moment. He was playing the great game again, but
for a prize he thought worth more than any he had yet won, and the
very magnitude of the risk steadied his naturally steady brain.
'Yes,' he said quietly, 'I do. Perhaps I've startled you a little, and I
shouldn't like you to make a decision till you feel quite ready to. I'll
just say again that I've thought the whole thing out as a genuine
venture, and that I believe in it, or I wouldn't propose it. Maybe
you've got some sensible lawyer you have confidence in, and would
like to consult him first. If you feel that way, I'd rather you should. A
business partnership's not a thing to go into with your eyes shut,
and if we had any reason for distrusting one another, it would be
better to make inquiries. But so far as that goes, it appears to me
that we've got facts to go on, which would make any partnership
succeed. You've certainly got the musical brains, besides a little
money of your own, and I've certainly got the rest of the funds. I'd
like you to put some money in, though, if you can spare it, because
that's a guarantee that you're going to be in earnest, too, and do
your share in the musical side. You see I'm talking to you just as I
would to a man in the same position. Not because I doubt that if
you put your name to a piece of paper you really will do your share
as a partner, but because I'm used to working in that sort of way in
business. How does that strike you? I hope you're not offended?'
'Offended!'
There was no mistaking the suppressed excitement and delight in
her voice. If he had possessed the intelligence of Mephistopheles
and the charm of Faust he could not have said anything more subtly
pleasing to her dignity and her vanity.
'Of course,' he said, 'it needn't be a very large sum. Still it ought to
be something that would make a difference to you.'
She hesitated a moment, and then spoke rather timidly.
'I think perhaps—if we did it—I could manage a hundred thousand
pounds,' she said. 'Would that be too little, do you think?'
The large mouth twitched and then smiled pleasantly.
'That's too much,' he said, shaking his head. 'You mustn't put all
your eggs in one basket. A hundred thousand dollars would be quite
enough as your share of the capital, with option to buy stock of me
at par, up to a million, or so, if it's a success.'
'Really? Would that be enough? And, please, what is "stock" in such
a case?'
'Stock,' said the financier, 'is a little plant which, when well watered,
will grow like the mustard seed, till all the birds of Wall Street make
their nests in its branches. And if you don't water it too much, it'll be
all right. In our case, the stock is going to be that share of the
business which most people sell to raise money, and which we mean
to keep for ourselves. I always do it that way, when circumstances
allow. I once bought all the stock of a railroad for nothing, for
instance, and sold all the bonds, and let it go bankrupt. Then I
bought the road one day, and found all the stock was in my own
pocket. That's only a little illustration. But I guess you can leave the
financial side in my hands. You won't lose by it, I'm pretty sure.'
'I fancy not!' Margaret's eyes were wide open, her hands were
clasped tightly on her knee, and she was leaning forward a little.
'Besides,' she went on, 'it would not be the money that I should care
about! I can earn more money than I want, and I have a little
fortune of my own—the hundred thousand I offered you. Oh, no! It
would be the splendid power to have the most beautiful music in the
world given as it could be given nowhere else! The joy of singing
myself—the parts I can sing—in the most perfect surroundings! An
orchestra picked from the whole world of orchestras, the greatest
living leaders, the most faultless chorus! And the scenery, and the
costumes—everything as everything could be, if it were really, really
the best that can be had! Do you believe it is possible to have all
that?'
'Oh, yes, and with your name to it, too. We'll have everything on
earth that money can buy to make a perfect opera, and I'll
guarantee it'll pay after the first two seasons. That is, if you'll work
at it as hard as I will. But you've got to work, Miss Donne, you've got
to work, or it's no use thinking of it. That's my opinion.'
'I'll work like a Trojan!' cried Margaret enthusiastically.
'Trojans,' mused Van Torp, who wanted to bring her back to her
ordinary self before Mrs. Rushmore or Lady Maud came in. 'Let me
see. They say that because the Trojans had to work so hard to get
over the Alps coming down into Italy, don't they?'
Whether Mr. Van Torp made this monstrous assertion in ignorance,
or for effect, no one will ever know. An effect certainly followed at
once, for Margaret broke into an echoing laugh.
'I believe it was the Carthaginians,' she said presently. 'It's the same
thing, as Lady Maud is so fond of saying!'
'All in the family, as Cain said when he killed Abel,' observed Van
Torp without a smile.
Margaret looked at him and laughed again. She would have laughed
at anything in the remotest degree amusing just then, for she found
it hard to realise exactly what she was doing or saying. The
possibility he had suddenly placed within her reach appealed to
almost everything in her nature at once, to her talent, her vanity, her
real knowledge of her art, her love of power, even to her good
sense, which was unusually practical in certain ways. She had
enough experience in herself, and enough knowledge of the
conditions to believe that her own hard work, combined with Van
Torp's unlimited capital, could and certainly would produce such an
opera-house, and bring to it such artists as had never been seen and
heard, except perhaps in Bayreuth, during its first great days, now
long past.
Then, too, he had put the matter before her so skilfully that she
could look upon it honestly as a business partnership, in which her
voice, her judgment, and her experience would bear no contemptible
proportion to his money, and in which she herself was to invest
money of her own, thereby sharing the risk according to her fortune
as well as giving the greater part of the labour. She felt for some
weak place in the scheme, groping as if she were dazzled, but she
could find none.
'I don't think I shall need time to think this over,' she said,
controlling her voice better, now that she had made up her mind. 'As
I understand it, I am to put in what I can in the way of ready-
money, and I am to give my time in all ways, as you need it, and my
voice, when it is wanted. Is that it?'
'Except that, when you choose to sing, the Company will allow you
your usual price for each appearance,' answered Van Torp in a
business-like manner. 'You will pay yourself, or we both shall pay
you, just as much as we should pay any other first-class soprano, or
as much more as you would get in London or New York if you signed
an engagement.'
'Is that fair?' Margaret asked.
'Why, certainly. But the Company, which is you and I, will probably
rule that you mustn't sing in Grand Opera anywhere in the States
east of the Rockies. They've got to come to New York to hear you.
Naturally, you'll be free to do anything you like in Europe outside of
our season, when you can spare the time.'
'Of course.'
'Well, now, I suppose we might as well note that down right away,
as a preliminary agreement. What do you say?'
'I say that I simply cannot refuse such an offer!' Margaret answered.
'Your consent is all that's necessary,' he said, in a matter-of-fact
tone.
He produced from an inner pocket a folded sheet of foolscap, which
he spread on the corner of the table beside him. He took out a
fountain pen and began to write quickly. The terms and forms were
as familiar to him as the alphabet and he lost no time; besides, as
he had told the Primadonna, he had thought out the whole matter
beforehand.
'What if Mrs. Rushmore comes in just as we are signing it?' asked
Margaret.
'We'll tell her, and ask her to witness our signatures,' replied Van
Torp without looking up. 'I judge Mrs. Rushmore to have quite a
knowledge of business.'
'You seem able to write and talk at the same time,' Margaret said,
smiling.
'Business talk, yes.' The pen ran on swiftly. 'There. That's about all, I
should say. Do you think you can read my writing? I don't suppose
you've ever seen it.'
He turned the page round, and handed it to her. The writing was
large and perfectly legible, but very different from the 'commercial'
hand of most American business men. Any one word, taken at
random, might have seemed unformed, at first sight, but the
appearance of the whole was oddly strong and symmetrical.
Margaret read the clauses carefully. She herself had already signed a
good many legal papers in connexion with her engagements and her
own small fortune, and the language was not so unfamiliar to her as
it would have been to most women.
'Shall I sign first?' she asked, when she had finished. 'My own name?
Or my stage name?'
'Your own name, please,' said Van Torp without hesitation. 'The
others only binding in your profession, because you appear under it,
and it's your "business style."'
She wrote 'Margaret Donne' at the foot of the page in her large and
rather irregular hand, and passed the paper back to Van Torp, who
signed it. He waved the sheet slowly to and fro, to dry the ink.
'It's only a preliminary agreement,' he said, 'but it's binding as far as
it goes and I'll attend to the rest. You'll have to give me a power of
attorney for my lawyer in New York. By the bye, if you decide to
come, you can do that in Venice, where there's a real live consul.
That's necessary. But for all matters of business herein set forth, we
are now already "The Madame da Cordova and Rufus Van Torp
Company, organised for the purpose of building an Opera-house in
the City of New York and for giving public performances of musical
works in the same, with a nominal capital hereafter to be agreed
upon." That's what we are now.'
He folded the sheet, returned it to his inner pocket and held out his
hand in a cheerful, business-like manner.
'Shall we shake hands on it?' he asked.
'By all means,' Margaret answered readily, and their eyes met; but
she drew back her hand again before taking his. 'This is purely a
matter of business between us,' she said, 'you understand that? It
means nothing else?'
'Purely a matter of business,' answered Rufus Van Torp, slowly and
gravely.
 CHAPTER XII

'Stemp,' said Mr. Van Torp, 'we must have something to eat on that
yacht.'
'Yes, sir. Quite so, sir.'
Stemp, who could do anything, was clipping the millionaire's thatch
of sandy hair, on the morning after the transaction last described.
Mr. Van Torp abhorred barbers and shaved himself, and in his less
'prominent' days he had been in the habit of cutting his own hair by
using two looking-glasses. The result had rarely been artistic, and
even Stemp was not what is described on some American signs as a
tonsorial artist, but he managed to clip his master's rough mane with
neatness and precision, if not in the 'Bond Street style.'
'I mean,' said Mr. Van Torp, explaining himself, 'we must have
something good to eat.'
'Oh, I see, sir,' answered Stemp, as if this were quite a new idea.
'Well, now, do you suppose you can get anything to eat in Italy?'
'Salmon-trout is very good there, sir, and quails are in season at the
end of August. They are just going back to Egypt at this time of the
year, sir, and are very fat. There's Gorgonzola cheese, too, and figs
and muscatel grapes are coming on. I think that's all, sir.'
'It's not bad. How about chickens?'
'Well, sir, the poultry in those parts is not much to boast of. An
Italian fowl is mostly either a hawk or a butterfly. That's my
experience, sir, when I travelled there with the late Duke of
Barchester, a few years ago. His Grace was most particular, sir,
having a poor stomach, and nothing to occupy his mind after the
Duchess died in a fit of rage, having thrown her wig at him, sir, they
do say, and then fallen down in a fit which was quite awful to see,
and ended as we all know.'
'As far as I can see, you'd better go on to Venice, Stemp,' said Mr.
Van Torp, not interested in his man's reminiscences. 'You'd better go
off to-night and tell Captain Brown to hurry up and get ready,
because I'm bringing a party of friends down the day after to-
morrow. And then you just scratch round and find something to eat.'
'Yes, sir. I'll telegraph to the caterers, and I think you'll be satisfied,
sir.'
'There's an American lady coming, who knows what's good to eat,
and likes it, and wants it, and means to get it, and you've got to find
it for her somehow. I can live on hog and hominy myself. And I
shan't want you in the least. You'd better take most of my baggage
with you anyway. Just leave my Tuxedo and a couple of suits, and
some new flannel pants and a shirt-case, and take the rest. But
don't waste time over that either if you've got to catch the train, for
the main thing's to get there right away. You can go first-class,
Stemp—you won't be so done up.'
'Thank you, sir.'
A silence followed, during which the valet's scissors made a
succession of little chinking noises; from time to time he turned Mr.
Van Torp's head very gingerly to a slightly different position.
'Stemp.'
'Yes, sir.'
'You take a good look around that yacht, and decide about the state-
rooms, before I come. This way. You give the best room to Miss
Donne, and have a large bouquet of carnations on the table. See?'
'Beg pardon, sir, but carnations are out of season.'
'You get them just the same.'
'Yes, sir.'
'And give the second-best room to her ladyship, Stemp, if there are
not two alike, but be extra careful to see that everything's
comfortable. Lady Maud likes wood violets, Stemp. You get a
handsome bouquet of them, and don't tell me they're out of season
too, because you've got to get them, anyway, so it's no use to talk.'
'Yes, sir. I see, sir.'
'And then you get the third-best room ready for Mrs. Rushmore, and
you get some flowers for her too, out of your own head. Maybe she
likes those roses with stems three feet long. Use your own
judgment, anyway.'
'Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.'
Another silence followed, and the hair-cutting was finished. Mr. Van
Torp glanced at himself in the glass and then turned to his valet.
'Say, Stemp, I was thinking. Maybe that third bedroom's not quite so
good as the others, and the lady might feel herself sort of
overlooked.'
'Yes, sir.'
'Well, I was thinking. If that's the case, and it looks sort of second-
class, you go out and get a man and have him gild it all around
nicely so as to brighten it up. I guess she'll think it's all right if it's
gilt and the others aren't. Some people are like that.'
'I see, sir. Yes, sir. I'll attend to it, sir. Will there be any more ladies
and gentlemen, sir?'
'There's that Russian gentleman, Count Kralinsky. Put him at the
other end of the ship, somewhere out of the way of the ladies. I
suppose he'll bring his valet, and there'll be two or three maids.
That's all. Now don't mind me any more, but just fly around, and
don't forget anything. Understand? We aren't going to be in England
or the States, where you can sit still and telephone for anything
you've forgotten, from peanuts to a funeral. You'll have to go full
speed ahead in all directions if you're going to wake things up.'
Thereupon Mr. Van Torp sat down by the window to read the paper.
His attention was arrested by a sensational 'scare-head' about a thief
and a ruby worth fifty thousand dollars. Some disaffected colleague
in London had known, or cleverly guessed, where the stone was that
had been stolen from Mr. Pinney's, and had informed the police; the
nice-looking young fellow who spoke like an English gentleman had
walked directly into the arms of the plain-clothes man waiting for
him on the pier in New York, the stone had been found sewn up in
his waistcoat, and his pleasant career of liberty had ended abruptly
in a cell.
Mr. Van Torp whistled softly as he read the account a second time.
Then he neatly cut the column out of the paper, folded it with great
precision, smoothed it with care and placed it in his pocket-book
next to a cheap little photograph of Madame da Cordova as 'Juliet,'
which he had bought in a music-shop in New York the day after he
had heard her for the first time, and had carried in his pocket ever
since. He looked up to see what Stemp was doing, and as the man
was kneeling before a box on the floor, with his back turned, he took
out the rather shabby photograph and gazed at it quietly for fully
thirty seconds before he put it back again.
He took up the mutilated newspaper and looked up and down the
columns, and among other information which he gathered in a few
moments was the fact that Logotheti's yacht had 'passed Cape Saint
Vincent, going east, owner and party on board.' The previous
telegram had not escaped him, and if he had entertained any doubts
as to the destination of the Erinna, they vanished now. She was
certainly bound for the Mediterranean. He remembered having heard
that many steam yachts coming from England put into Gibraltar for
coal and fresh provisions, coal being cheaper there than in French
and Italian ports, and he thought it very probable that the Erinna
would do the same; he also made some deductions which need not
be explained yet. The only one worth mentioning here was that
Logotheti would be likely to hear in Gibraltar that the ruby had been
found and was on its way back to England, and that as he would
know that Margaret would be anxious about it, since he had already
given it to her, he would hardly let the occasion of communicating
with her go by. As for writing from Gibraltar to any place whatsoever
in the hope that a letter will arrive in less than a week, it is sheer
folly. Mr. Van Torp had never tried it, and supposed it possible, as it
looks, but he was tolerably sure that Logotheti would telegraph first,
and had perhaps done so already, for the news of his passing Cape
Saint Vincent was already twenty-four hours old.
This was precisely what had happened. When Mr. Van Torp opened
his door, he came upon Margaret and Mrs. Rushmore on the landing,
on the point of going out for a walk, and a servant had just brought
the Primadonna a telegram which she was reading aloud, so that the
American could not help hearing her.
'"Cruising till wanted,"' she read quickly. '"Ruby found. Address,
yacht Erinna, Naples."'
She heard Van Torp close his door, though she had not heard him
open it, and turning round she found herself face to face with him.
Her eyes were sparkling with anger.
'Very sorry,' he said. 'I couldn't help hearing.'
'It's of no consequence, for I should have told you,' Margaret
answered briefly.
He argued well for himself from her tone and manner, but he chose
to show that he would not force his company upon her just then,
when she was in a visible rage, and instead of stopping to exchange
more words he passed the two ladies hat in hand, and bowing rather
low, after his manner, he went quietly downstairs.
Margaret watched him till he disappeared.
'I like that man,' she said, as if to herself, but audibly. 'I cannot help
it.'
Mrs. Rushmore was more than delighted, but had tact enough not to
make any answer to a speech which had probably not been meant
for her ears.
'Perhaps,' she said, 'you would rather not go out just yet, my dear?'
Margaret was grateful for the suggestion, and they turned back into
their rooms.
Meanwhile Van Torp had reached the door of the hotel, and found
Lady Maud standing there with her parasol up, for the sun was
streaming in.
'I was waiting for you,' she said simply, as soon as he reached her
side, and she stepped out into the street. 'I thought you would come
down, and I wanted to speak to you, for I did not get a chance last
night. They were both watching me, probably because they thought
I was ill, and I had to chatter like a magpie to keep up appearances.'
'You did it very well,' Van Torp said. 'If I had not seen your face at
the window when I got out of the automobile yesterday, I shouldn't
have guessed there was anything wrong.'
'But there is—something very wrong—something I can hardly bear
to think of, though I must, until I know the truth.'
They turned into the first deserted street they came to.
'I daresay I can give a guess at what it is,' Van Torp answered
gravely. 'I went to see him alone yesterday on purpose, before he
started, and I must say, if it wasn't for the beard I'd feel pretty sure.'
'He had a beard when I married him, and it was like that—just like
that!'
Lady Maud's voice shook audibly, for she felt cold, even in the
sunshine.
'I didn't know,' Van Torp answered. 'That alters the case. If we're not
mistaken, what can I do to help you? Let's see. You only had that
one look at him, through the window, is that so?'
'Yes. But the window was open, and it's not high above the ground,
and my eyes are good. He took off his hat when he said good-bye to
you, and I saw his face as distinctly as I see yours. When you've
been married to a man'—she laughed harshly—'you cannot be easily
mistaken about him, when you're as near as that! That is the man I
married. I'm intimately convinced of it, but I must be quite sure. Do
you understand?'
'Of course. If he's really Leven, he's even a better actor than I used
to think he was. If he's not, the resemblance is just about the most
extraordinary thing! It's true I only saw Leven three or four times in
my life, but I saw him to look at him then, and the last time I did,
when he made the row in Hare Court, he was doing most of the
talking, so I remember his voice.'
'There's only one difficulty,' Lady Maud said. 'Some one else may
have been killed last June. It may even have been the pickpocket
who had stolen his pocket-book. Such things have happened, or do
in books! But this is certainly the man you met in New York and who
sold you the stone you gave me, is he not?'
'Oh, certainly. And that was at the end of July, and Leven was killed
late in June.'
'Yes. That only leaves a month for him to have been to Asia—that's
absurd.'
'Utterly, totally, and entirely impossible,' asseverated Mr. Van Torp.
'One of two things. Either this man is your husband, and if he is,
he's not the man who found the rubies in Asia. Or else, if he is that
man, he's not Leven. I wish that heathen girl had been here
yesterday! She could have told in a minute. She'd better have been
here anyway than cutting around the Mediterranean with that fellow
Logotheti!'
'Yes,' Lady Maud answered gravely. 'But about myself—if Leven is
alive, what is my position—I mean—I don't really quite know where I
am, do I?'
'Anybody but you would have thought of marrying again already,'
observed Mr. Van Torp, looking up sideways to her eyes, for she was
taller than he. 'Then you'd really be in a bad fix, wouldn't you? The
Enoch Arden thing, I suppose it would be. But as it is, I don't see
that it makes much difference. The man's going under a false name,
so he doesn't mean to claim you as his wife, nor to try and get a
divorce again, as he did before. He's just going to be somebody else
for his own good, and he'll get married that way, maybe. That's his
business, not yours. I don't suppose you're going to get up in church
and forbid the banns, are you?'
'I would, like a shot!' said Lady Maud. 'So would you, I'm sure! Think
of the other woman!'
'That's so,' answered Van Torp without enthusiasm. 'However, we've
got to think about you and the present, and decide what we'll do. I
suppose the best thing is for me to put him off with some excuse, so
that you can come on the yacht.'
'Please do nothing of the sort!' cried Lady Maud.
'But I want you to come,' objected her friend.
'I mean to come. Do you think I am afraid to meet him?'
Van Torp looked at her in some surprise, and not without admiration.
'There isn't anybody like you, anyway,' he said quietly. 'But there's
going to be a circus on that ship if he's Leven,' he added. 'If he
makes a fuss, I'll read the Riot Act and lock him up.'
'Oh, no,' answered Lady Maud, who was used to Mr. Van Torp's
familiar vocabulary, 'why need there be any trouble? You've not told
him I am coming, you say. Very well. If he sees me suddenly after
he has been on board a little while, he'll certainly betray himself, and
then I shall be sure. Leven is a man of the world —"was" or "is"—
God knows which! But if it is he, and he doesn't want to be
recognised, he'll behave as if nothing had happened, after the first
moment of surprise. At least I shall be certain! You may wonder—I
don't know myself, Rufus—I wish you could help me!'
'I will, as far as I can.'
'No, you don't know what I mean! There's something in my life that
I never quite told you, I can't tell why not. There must be people
who know it besides my mother—I don't think my father ever did.
Margaret has an idea of it—I let fall a few words one day. In one
way, you and I have been so intimate for years —and yet——'
She stopped short, and the soft colour rose in her cheeks like a
dawn. Van Torp looked down at the pavement as he walked.
'See here,' he said in a low voice, 'you'd better not tell me. Maybe
you'll be sorry some day if you do.'
'It would be the first time,' she answered softly, 'and I've often
wished you knew everything. I mean to tell you now—just wait a
moment.'
They walked on; they were already in the outskirts of the dull little
town. Van Torp did not again raise his eyes to her face, for he knew
she would speak when she was ready. When she did, her voice was
a little muffled, and she looked straight before her as he was doing.
They were quite alone in the road now.
'When I was very young—nearly eleven years ago, in my first season
—I met a man I liked very much, and he liked me. We grew very,
very fond of each other. He was not much older than I, and had just
joined the army. We couldn't marry, because we had no money—my
father had not come into the title then, you know—but we promised
each other that we would wait. We waited, and no one knew,
except, perhaps, my mother, and she kept us from seeing each other
as much as she could. Then came the Boer war, and he was killed—
killed in a wretched skirmish—not even in a battle—buried
somewhere on the Veldt—if I only knew where! I read it in a
despatch—just "killed"—nothing more. One doesn't die of things, I
suppose, and years passed, and I went out just the same, and they
wanted me to marry. You know how it is with a girl! I married to get
rid of myself—I married Leven because he was good-looking and
had money, and—I don't quite know why, but it seemed easier to
marry a foreigner than an Englishman. I suppose you cannot
understand that! It made all comparison impossible—perhaps that
was it. When mine was dead, I could never have taken another who
could possibly have known him, or who could be in the remotest
degree like him.'
'I understand that quite well,' said Van Torp, as she paused.
'I'm glad, then, for it makes it easier to explain the rest. I don't think
I always did my best to be nice to Leven. You see, he soon grew
tired of me, and went astray after strange goddesses. Still, I might
have tried harder to keep him if I had cared what he did, but I was
faithful to him, in my own way, and it was much harder than you can
guess, or any one. Oh, it was not any living man that made it hard—
not that! It was the other. He came back—dead men do sometimes
—and he told me I was his, and not Leven's wife; and I fought
against that, just as if a man had made love to me in society. It
didn't seem honest and true to my real husband, in my thoughts,
you know, and in some things thoughts are everything. I fought with
all my might against that one, that dear one. I think that was the
beginning of my work—being sorry for other women who perhaps
had tried to fight too, and wondering whether I should do much
better if my dead man came back alive. Do you see? I'm telling you
things I've hardly ever told myself, let alone any one else.'
'Yes, I see. I didn't know any one could be as good as that.'
'You can guess the rest,' Lady Maud went on, not heeding what he
said. 'When I believed that Leven was dead the fight was over, and I
took my dead man back, because I was really free. But now, if
Leven is alive after all, it must begin again. I ought to be brave and
fight against it; I must—but I can't, I can't! It's too hard, now! These
two months have been the happiest in my life since the day he was
killed! How can I go back again! And yet, if I cannot be an honest
woman in my thoughts I'm not an honest woman at all—I'm no
better than if I deserved to be divorced. I never believed in technical
virtue.'
Van Torp had seen many sides of human nature, good and bad, but
he had never dreamed of anything like this, even in the clear depths
of this good woman's heart, and what he heard moved him. Men
born with great natures often have a tender side which the world
does not dream of; call it nervousness, call it degeneracy, call it
hysterical who will; it is there. While Lady Maud was finishing her
poor little story in broken phrases, with her heart quivering in her
voice, Mr. Rufus Van Torp's eyes became suddenly so very moist that
he had to pass his hand over them hastily lest a drop or two should
run down upon his flat cheeks. He hoped she would not notice it.
But she did, for at that moment she turned and looked at his face,
and her own eyes were dry, though they burned. She saw that his
glistened, and she looked at him in surprise.
'I'm sorry,' he said, apologising as if he had done something rude. 'I
can't help it.'
Their hands were hanging near together as they walked, and hers
touched his affectionately and gratefully, but she said nothing, and
they went on in silence for some time before she spoke again.
'You know everything now. I must be positively sure whether Leven
is alive or dead, for what I have got back in these last two months is
my whole life. A mere recognition at first sight and at ten yards is
not enough. It may be only a marvellous resemblance, for they say
every one has a "double" somewhere in the world.'
'They used to say, too, that if you met your "double" one of you
would die,' observed Van Torp. 'Those things are all stuff and
nonsense, of course. I was just thinking. Well,' he continued,
dwelling on his favourite monosyllable, 'if you decide to come on the
yacht, and if the man doesn't blow away, we shall know the truth in
three or four days from now, and that's a comfort. And even if he
turns out to be Leven, maybe we can manage something.'
Lady Maud chose not to ask what her friend thought he could
'manage'; for she had glanced at his face when he had spoken, and
though it was half turned away from her, she saw his expression,
and it would have scared a nervous person. She did not like him to
be in that mood, and was sorry that she had brought him to it.
But Mr. Van Torp, who was a strong man, and had seen more than
one affray in his ranching days, could not help thinking how
uncommonly easy it would be to pick up Count Kralinsky and drop
him overboard on a dark night next week, when the Lancashire Lass
would be doing twenty-two knots, and there might be a little
weather about to drown the splash.
 CHAPTER XIII

The millionaire did things handsomely. He offered to motor his party

to Venice, and as Margaret declined, because motoring was bad for
her voice, he telegraphed for a comfortable special carriage, and
took his friends down by railway, managing everything alone, in
some unaccountable way, since the invaluable Stemp was already
gone in search of something for Mrs. Rushmore to eat; and they
were all very luxuriously comfortable.
Kralinsky was not on board the yacht when they came alongside at
sunset in two gondolas, following the steam-launch, which carried a
load of luggage and the two maids. The Primadonna's trunks and
hat-boxes towered above Mrs. Rushmore's, and Mrs. Rushmore's
above Lady Maud's modest belongings, as the Alps lift their heads
above the lower mountains, and the mountains look down upon the
Italian foot-hills; and Potts sat in one corner of the stern-sheets with
Margaret's jewel-case on her knee, and Justine, with Mrs.
Rushmore's, glared at her viciously from the other corner. For the
fierce Justine knew that she was going to be sea-sick on the yacht,
and the meek Potts never was, though she had crossed the ocean
with the Diva in rough weather.
Stemp led the way, and Mr. Van Torp took the three ladies to their
cabins: first, Mrs. Rushmore, who was surprised and delighted by
the rich and gay appearance of hers, for it was entirely decorated in
pink and gold, that combination being Stemp's favourite one. The
brass bedstead had pink silk curtains held back by broad gold
ribbands; there was a pink silk coverlet with a gold fringe;
everything that could be gold was gilt, and everything that could be
pink was rosy, including the carpet.
Mr. Van Torp looked at Stemp with approval, and Stemp
acknowledged unspoken praise with silent modesty.
'Beg pardon, madam,' he said, addressing Mrs. Rushmore, 'this is
not exactly the largest cabin on the yacht, but it is the one in which
you will find the least motion.'
'It's very sweet,' said the American lady. 'Very dainty, I'm sure.'
On the writing-table stood a tall gilt vase full of immense pink roses,
with stems nearer four feet long than three. Mrs. Rushmore admired
them very much.
'How did you know that I love roses above all other flowers?' she
asked. 'My dear Mr. Van Torp, you are a wizard, I'm sure!'
Lady Maud and Margaret had entered, and kept up a polite little
chorus of admiration; but they both felt uneasy as to what they
might find in their respective cabins, for Margaret hated pink, and
Lady Maud detested gilding, and neither of them was especially fond
of roses. They left Mrs. Rushmore very happy in her quarters and
went on. Lady Maud's turn came next, and she began to
understand, when she saw a quantity of sweet wood violets on her
table, just loosened, in an old Murano glass beaker.
'Thank you,' she said, bending to smell them. 'How kind of you!'
There was not a trace of gilding or pink silk. The cabin was panelled
and fitted in a rare natural wood of a creamy-white tint.
'Beg pardon, my lady,' said Stemp. 'This and Miss Donne's cabin
communicate by this door, and the door aft goes to the dressing-
room. Each cabin has one quite independent, and this bell rings the
pantry, my lady, and this one rings Miss Donne's maid's cabin, as I
understand that your ladyship has not brought her own maid with
her.'
'Very nice,' said Lady Maud, smelling the violets again.
Mr. Van Torp looked at Stemp as he would have looked at a horse
that had turned out even better than he had expected. Stemp threw
open the door of communication to the cabin he had prepared for
the Primadonna. The two cabins occupied the whole beam of the
vessel, excepting the six-foot gangway on each side, and as she was
one of the largest yachts afloat at the time, there was no lack of
room.
'Carnations, at this time of year!' cried Margaret, seeing half an
armful of her favourite dark red ones, in a silver wine-cooler before
the mirror. 'You really seem to know everything! Thank you so
much!'
She buried her handsome face in the splendid flowers and drew in a
deep, warm breath, full of their sensuous perfume, the spicy scent
of a laden clove-tree under a tropical sun.
'Thank you again!' she said enthusiastically. 'Thank you for
everything, the delightful journey, and this lovely room, and the
carnations!'
She stood up suddenly to her height, in sheer pleasure, and held out
her hand to him. He pressed it quietly, and smiled.
'Do as you would be done by,' he said. 'That's the Company's rule.'
She laughed at the allusion to their agreement, of which Lady Maud
knew nothing, for they had determined to keep it secret for the
present.
Mr. Van Torp had not found an opportunity of speaking to Lady Maud
alone, but he wished her to know when Kralinsky might be expected.
'Stemp,' he said, before leaving the cabin, 'have you heard from the
Count?'
'Yes, sir. He got here this morning from Vienna in his motor, sir, and
sent his things with his man, and his compliments to you and the
ladies, and he will come on board in time for dinner. That was all, I
think, sir.'
 "She buried her handsome face in the
splendid flowers."

Lady Maud heard, and made a scarcely perceptible movement of the

head by way of thanks to her friend, while listening to Margaret's
enthusiastic praise of everything she saw. Mr. Van Torp and his man
departed, just as Potts appeared, accompanied by a very neat-
looking English stewardess in a smart white cap. Lady Maud was
unusually silent, but she smiled pleasantly at what Margaret said,
and the latter made up her mind to drown her anger against
Logotheti, and at the same time to be avenged on him, in an orgy of
luxurious comfort, sea-air, and sunshine. The capacity of a perfectly
healthy and successful singer for enjoying everything, from a
halfpenny bun and a drive in a hansom to a millionaire's yacht and
the most expensive fat of the land, or sea, has never been
measured. And if they do have terrible fits of temper now and then,
who shall blame them? They are always sorry for it, because it is
bad for the voice.
Mr. Van Torp reached his quarters, and prepared to scrub and dress
comfortably after a week at Bayreuth and a railway journey.
'Stemp.'
'Yes, sir.'
'That was quite nicely done. You must have had a lively time.'
'Yes, sir. Thank you, sir. Hope everything is tolerably satisfactory to
you, sir.'
'Yes. Find anything good to eat? Chickens don't take gilding well, you
know—doesn't taste together. But I suppose you found something.
Seen the cook?'
'Yes, sir. I think things will be tolerable, sir, though this is not
London, I must say.'
Mr. Van Torp showed no surprise at the statement, and disappeared
into his bath-room, well pleased with himself and his man. But a
moment later he opened the door again and thrust out his square
sandy head.
'Stemp, where have you put the Count? Far from here? I don't want
him near me.'
'Last cabin forward on the port side, sir, next to the smoking-room.
Very good cabin, sir.'
'Whereabouts is port, right or left?'
'Left-hand side of the vessel, sir,' answered Stemp, who had been on
many yachts. 'There are ten more cabins empty, sir, between large
and small, if you should think of asking any ladies and gentlemen to
join at another point, sir.'
'May pick up a couple somewhere. Can't tell yet.' And Mr. Van Torp
disappeared definitely.
Lady Maud did not begin to dress at once, as there was plenty of
time before dinner; she left the stewardess to unpack her things,
and came out upon the six-foot gangway outside her cabin door to
breathe the air, for it was warm. The city lay half a mile away in the
after-glow of the sunset. The water was very green that evening, as
it sometimes is in the Lagoons, though not always, and it was
shaded off through many opalescent tints to heliotrope; then it was
suddenly black below the steps of the Piazzetta and the Ducal
Palace. Within the mysterious canal to the right she could make out
the Bridge of Sighs, and there was the Ponte della Paglia, and the
long line of irregular buildings to the eastward of the Prisons, as far
as the Public Gardens. To the left there was the wide mouth of the
Grand Canal, the Salute and the Custom-House, and the broad
opening of the Giudecca. It was familiar to her, for she had seen it
several times. She missed the Campanile, which she had been made
to climb by an energetic governess when she was twelve years old,
but all the rest was there and unchanged, a dream of evening
colour, an Eastern city rising out of an enchanted water, under an
Italian sky.
At any other time she would have enjoyed the sight almost without a
thought, as she enjoyed everything that seemed to her beautiful or
even pretty, though she had no pretensions to cultivated artistic
taste or knowledge. But now she felt none of that healthy pleasure
which a lovely sight naturally gave her. She was at a crisis of her life,
and the exquisite evening scene was the battlefield of a coming
struggle, with herself, or with another, she hardly knew. In half an
hour, or in an hour, at most, she was to sit at table with a man she
fully believed to be the husband for whom she had been wearing
mourning, out of mere decency, but with the profound inward
satisfaction of being free.
She was brave, and could try to think of what was before her if it
turned out that she was not mistaken, and she could attempt to
understand what had happened. She had already come to the
conclusion that if Kralinsky was really Leven, the latter had seized
the opportunity offered him by his own supposed death to disappear
from St. Petersburg, and had taken another name. Leven had been a
ruined man when he had tried to divorce her; when he died, or
disappeared, he left nothing but debts, which were extinguished
with him, for no one attempted to make his widow responsible for
them, since there was no estate and she had no fortune beyond the
allowance her father made her. Lord Creedmore was far from being
a rich peer, too, and what he gave her was not much, although it
would more than suffice for her simple wants, now that she intended
to live with him again.
But if Leven had not been killed and had turned into Kralinsky, he
now had plenty of ready money, though it was not easy to guess
how he had obtained possession of a quantity of valuable Asiatic
rubies within the few weeks that had elapsed between his supposed
destruction by the bomb and the date of Van Torp's transaction with
him in New York. That was a mystery. So was his possible
acquaintance, or connexion, with the Eastern girl who was looking
for him, if there was a shadow of truth in Logotheti's story. Lady
Maud did not believe there was, and she felt morally sure that the
tale had evolved itself out of the Greek's fertile brain, as a fantastic
explanation of his atrocious conduct.
While she was thinking over these matters and rehearsing in her
thoughts the scene that was before her, she saw a gondola making
straight for the yacht across the fast fading green of the lagoon that
lay between the vessel and the Piazzetta. It came nearer, and she
drew back from the rail against her cabin door, under the shadow of
the promenade deck, which extended over the gangway and was
supported by stanchions, as on an ocean liner. The Lancashire Lass,
with her single huge yellow funnel, her one short signal mast, her
turret-shaped wheel-house, and her generally business-like
appearance, looked more like a cross between a fast modern cruiser
and an ocean 'greyhound' than like a private yacht. She even had a
couple of quick-firing guns mounted just above her rail.
Lady Maud looked at the gondola, and as it came still nearer, she
saw that it brought only one passenger, and that he had a fair beard.
She quietly opened her cabin door, and went in to dress for dinner.
Meanwhile Mr. Van Torp had completed his toilet, and was rather
surprised to find himself magnificently arrayed in a dark-blue dinner-
jacket, with perfectly new gilt buttons, and an unfamiliar feeling
about the pockets. He had belonged to a yacht club for years,
because it seemed to be expected of him, and Stemp and the tailor
had thought fit that he should possess the proper things for a
yachtsman.
'Stemp,' he said, 'is this the correct thing? I suppose you know.'
'Yes, sir. Very smart indeed, sir. White caps are usually worn by
yachting gentlemen in the Mediterranean, sir.' Stemp offered him the
cap in question, resplendent with a new enamelled badge. 'Beg
pardon, sir, but as to caps, most gentlemen lift them to ladies, just
like hats, sir, but the captain and the officers touch theirs. His Grace
always lifted his cap, sir.'
'I guess that'll be all right,' answered Mr. Van Torp, trying on the cap.
'Send the captain to my study, Stemp, and find out about when the
ladies will be ready for dinner.'
Stemp disappeared, and in a few moments pink-faced Captain Brown
appeared, quiet, round, and smart.
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