I could see it all from my
alcove, and it was better than any play.
I hadn't waited long till there came another ring at the bell. The
butler made no bones about admitting this new visitor.
While he was taking off his coat I saw who it was. You couldn't
open a newspaper or a magazine without seeing that face--the grey
beard cut like a spade, the firm fighting mouth, the blunt square
nose, and the keen blue eyes. I recognized the First Sea Lord, the
man, they say, that made the new British Navy.
He passed my alcove and was ushered into a room at the back of
the hall. As the door opened I could hear the sound of low voices.
It shut, and I was left alone again.
For twenty minutes I sat there, wondering what I was to do
next. I was still perfectly convinced that I was wanted, but when or
how I had no notion. I kept looking at my watch, and as the time
crept on to half-past ten I began to think that the conference must
soon end. In a quarter of an hour Royer should be speeding along
the road to Portsmouth ...
Then I heard a bell ring, and the butler appeared. The door of
the back room opened, and the First Sea Lord came out. He walked
past me, and in passing he glanced in my direction, and for a
second we looked each other in the face.
Only for a second, but it was enough to make my heart jump. I
had never seen the great man before, and he had never seen me.
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