He managed a grin. ‘Returning mine of the fourteenth, I take it? Thank you. Do sit down and we’ll start again.’
Puzzlingly, the girl stayed on her feet.
Wrong footed by her silence and rigid stance, Joe re-launched the conversation in a welcoming and very English prattle.
‘Looks as though it’s going to be hot again today.’
‘We’ve had the hottest summer for twenty-seven years, I understand, sir.’
‘Yes … When will it end? Pigs keeling over with heat stroke at the county show …’ he offered with a bland smile.
‘Reckless swimmers getting into difficulties in the Serpentine.’
‘But there’s some good news. We have our Prince of Wales back home safe and sound at last.’
Her voice was tight with strain as she returned yet another answer in this tedious sequence. ‘After eight months touring India, he will be acclimatized to this heat.’
‘Well, that’ll do for our review of the papers,’ Joe said, and fell silent.