Macmaster sighed from deep in his chest. He asked himself if this was what sixteen hours waiting had done for his friend, what were all the remaining hours going to do?
Tietjens said:
"I shall be fit to talk about Sylvia after two more whiskies. . . . Let's settle your other perturbations first. . . . The fair girl is called Wannop: Valentine Wannop."
"That's the Professor's name," Macmaster said.
"She's the late Professor Wannop's daughter," Tietjens said. "She's also the daughter of the novelist."
Macmaster interjected:
"But . . ."
"She supported herself for a year after the Professor's death as a domestic servant," Tietjens said. "Now she's housemaid for her mother, the novelist, in an inexpensive cottage. I should imagine the two experiences would make her desire to better the lot of her sex."
Macmaster again interjected a "But . . ."
"I got that information from the policeman whilst I was putting his wife's canary's leg in splints."