Lady Ferriby had some calls to pay, so Cornish volunteered to walk across the park with Joan, who had a healthy love of exercise. They talked of various matters, and of course returned again and again to the Malgamite affairs.
“By the way,” said Joan, at the corner of Cambridge Terrace, “I had a letter this morning from Dorothy Roden. I was at school with her, you know, and never dreamt that Mr. Roden was her brother. In fact, I had nearly forgotten her existence. She is coming across for the ball. She says she saw you when you were at The Hague. You never mentioned her, Tony.”
“Didn't I? She is not interested in the Malgamite scheme, you know. And nobody who is not interested in that is worth mentioning.”
They walked on in silence for a few minutes. Then Cornish asked a question.
“What sort of person was she at school?”
“Oh, she was a frivolous sort of girl—never took anything seriously, you know. That is why she is not interested in the Malgamite, I suppose.”
“I suppose so,” said Tony Cornish.