“Very much. I went to chapel, and then had tea with Robin. Those English boys are such dears; they were so jolly and friendly. And I was very careful.”
“Das ist gut.”
He continued to speak in the language in which he thought, when, as so often, he thought definitely, as he had been taught to do as a child. He could remember his mother saying to him, “Never be vague when you think, mein Hermann: vague thought makes weak action. Articulate your thought, as if you were speaking aloud. That makes for thoroughness....”
“But I have no longer any doubt whatever that the situation is beyond cure, Aline,” he said. “That is why I must certainly be in the City to-morrow morning. I must make the best of a bad job.”
“But you are going to make a good job out of it, are you not?” she asked.
“As far as a little money goes, yes,” said he. “If I do not bring you home half a million pounds, you may smash my silly face for me.”
Freddy followed this.
“Daddy’s going to bring home half a million pounds,” he shrieked. “Daddy, how much may I have?”
Aline picked him up.
“You may have half a million kisses from Mummie, dearest,” she said.