“Yes I am.”
“Can I ring you sometimes? We might go out one night.”
“All right.”
“I’d better make a note of the number,” George felt feverishly in his pocket for a pencil.
“It’s in the book, Harris & Son, greengrocer. We’ve got a place above the shop.”
“That’s wonderful. Harris & Son. That’s easy to remember, isn’t it?”
“Now for God’s sake go to sleep,” Cora said. “If you dare say another word I’ll really be angry with you!”
“All right,” George said, satisfied. “Good night.”
“Good night,” she returned shortly, and he heard her turn over in the bed.
He groped his way to the chair and settled down. He glanced out of the window. It had stopped raining, and a misty moon floated in the sky. The pavements looked black and shiny in the street lights. In the distance a clock struck the half hour after eleven.