I said I was as he carried a fair-size snifter to an arm-chair opposite mine. He sat down and stared at me over the rim of the glass the way you would stare at some curious animal at the Zoo.
‘She tells me she’s going with you.’
‘So she says.’
‘I wish she wouldn’t, but nothing I say makes any difference. He sipped the whisky, stared down at his white buckskin shoe. He had the smallest male feet I have ever seen. ‘I never have been able to influence her one way or the other. A pity, really. Of course, old people are bores, but sometimes they are able to help the young if the young would only let them.’
I had the idea he was talking rather to himself than to me so I didn’t say anything.
He brooded off into a silence that lasted some time. I helped myself to another of my cigarettes, kept an intelligent expression on my face just in case he might think it worth while to speak to me and resisted the temptation to fidget.
In the middle distance I noticed the two Chinese gardeners had decided to call it a day. They had been staring at the umbrella standard for some time without touching it; now, having learned it by heart, they moved off to enjoy a well-earned rest.
‘Do you carry a gun?’ Marshland asked suddenly.
‘Yes; but I don’t expect to use it.’
‘I hope not. You’ll see she takes as little risk as possible, won’t you?’