She smiled at him, her quick, sweet smile. "Nick, you're a darling! But
I haven't."
"Quite sure?" said Nick.
"Quite sure," she replied with emphasis.
He looked a little quizzical. "By the way, did you ask Max—what you wanted to know?"
She knew that she coloured, but she faced him notwithstanding. "No, I didn't. I decided it wasn't important enough."
"Oh, all right," said Nick. He got up. "Now can I trust you to lie quietly here while I go and post these letters?"
"Of course you can," she said.
"I shan't be more than five minutes," he said, turning to the door.
She watched him go, and then closed her eyes, slightly frowning. She wished with all her heart that Major Hunt-Goring had not seen fit to come again, even though it was obviously her friend and not herself that he had come to see.
She was still pondering the unpleasant subject when the housemaid suddenly presented herself at the open door.