“You’re going to the Long Rooms now?” he asked.
“Yes. And you, I suppose, want to go to the dockyard? The monthly visit to the Clerk of the Cheque?”
“Yes.”
“We can walk together as far as the Rooms, if you care to. As soon as our friend Maria returns my coat to me.”
“That’s what I was thinking,” said Bush.
It was not long before Maria came knocking at the door again.
“It’s done,” she said, holding out the coat. “It’s nice and fresh now.”
But something seemed to have gone out of her. She seemed a little frightened, a little apprehensive.
“What’s the matter, Maria?” asked Hornblower, quick to feel the change of attitude.
“Nothing. Of course there’s nothing the matter with me,” said Maria, defensively, and then she changed the subject. “Put your coat on now, or you’ll be late.”