THE MAN WHO
DROVE THE CAR
BY
MAX PEMBERTON
AUTHOR OF
"THE GIRL WITH THE RED HAIR"
"THE IRON PIRATE" ETC.
LONDON
EVELEIGH NASH
FAWSIDE HOUSE
1910
Printed by BALLANTYNE & Co. LIMITED
Tavistock Street, Coven Garden, London
CONTENTS
| I. | THE ROOM IN BLACK |
| II. | THE SILVER WEDDING |
| III. | IN ACCOUNT WITH DOLLY ST. JOHN |
| IV. | THE LADY WHO LOOKED ON |
| V. | THE BASKET IN THE BOUNDARY ROAD |
| VI. | THE COUNTESS |
I
THE ROOM IN BLACK
They say that every man should have a master, but, for my part, Iprefer a mistress. Give me a nice young woman with plenty of money inher pocket, and a bit of taste for seeing life, and I'll leave you allthe prying "amatoors" that ever sniffed about a gear-box withoutknowing what was inside that same.
I have driven plenty of pretty girls in my life; but I don't know thatthe prettiest wasn't Fauny Dartel, of the Apollo. This story isn'tabout her—except in a way—so it doesn't much matter; but when I firstknew Fauny she was getting thirty bob a week in "The Boys of Boulogne,"and, as she paid me three pound ten every Saturday, and the car costher some four hundred per annum to run, she must have been of a savingdisposition. Certainly a better mistress no man wants—not LalBritten, which is yours truly. I drove her for five months, and neverhad a word with her. Then a man, who said he was a bailiff, came andtook her car away, and there was no money for me on the Saturday. So Isuppose she married into the peerage.
My story isn't about Fauny Dartel, though it's got to do with her.It's about a man who didn't know who he was—at least, he said so—andcouldn't tell you why he did