'What have you been doing this week?'
'Singing mostly.'
'Sing now, please.'
'No, let's talk first.'
'Well, how did Cornish behave on your way back?'
'Quite as well as if you had been with us, Noakes.'
He leaned forward quickly.
'Do you know, that's the first time you've called me "Noakes"?'
'It slipped. Mrs. Max says it, you know; I am weak about taking on colloquialisms.'
'And you are sorry you have been so easily influenced?' Noakes asked in ponderous aggrievement.