"No, no, of course I don't! Only he did say that she'd been very good to him once, or something."
"Oh, that must have been on account of his sister! He used to have one, only she died, and I believe Ermyntrude did rather succour her; only it all happened in the Dark Ages, when I was small, so I don't really know. I wouldn't wonder if Maurice thinks Robert did it.
"Why? Surely he hasn't said anything to you about it?"
"No, but Robert's a friend of his, and you must admit that he's taking it all frightfully seriously, so that it looks rather as though he feared the worst."
"He can't think that! In any case, I didn't find him any different from his usual self. He certainly wasn't with me."
"Oh well! then it was probably Hugh who made him so glum. I've noticed that he doesn't seem to like Hugh much."
Mary stared at her. "But what could he possibly find to dislike in Hugh?"
"Old school-tie. Alan does. Besides, there's plenty to dislike in him. Mothballs, and being dictatorial, and - oh, lots of things!"
"Hallo!" said Mary, suddenly making a discovery. "Have you fallen for Hugh?"
"No, I think he's noisome, and I do not fall for other people's boy-friends!"