Colin paused: that subject was one of those he had meant to put away from him. But she should have it if she liked.
“Douglas has gone,” he observed.
“Gone?” asked she.
“Yes, I said ‘gone,’ didn’t I?” said Colin. “To spare you any more questions, I don’t know where he’s gone, because he didn’t tell me. Sometimes I thought he would be rather a good tutor for Dennis in his holidays a little later on.”
He just glanced at Violet and saw she had understood.
“But that’s all over now,” he continued. “I shall have to conduct Dennis’s holiday education myself.... Yes, the atmosphere of Stanier didn’t suit Douglas. He was impolite enough to say that it was saturated with me and that he couldn’t bear it for a moment longer. You’re delighted I suppose, aren’t you?”
“I saw very little of him,” said Violet. “As you know, I didn’t like him.”
“How very unchristian of you. What was the fault you found with him?”
“I don’t think we need go into that,” said she.
“How reticent you are, darling,” he said. “Sad, isn’t it, that there’s so little mutual confidence and trust between us. I wonder if you’re glad that Vincenzo has gone, too. Would you feel inclined to come to the inquest with me, and say that Vincenzo was a lovable, God-fearing fellow who had nothing on his mind, no fears, no worries?”