“Oh. Do you notice women’s lips?”
“I notice yours. Almost the first thing I noticed of you was how red your lips were. What do you put on them?”
“Nothing. You put something on them sometimes.”
“What? A gag?”
“No. Your old silly mouth that asks so many questions.”
“I’ll get you some hot water for your eyes. You must bathe them.”
“How good and tender you are to me, Tom.”
As he walked to get a jugful of hot water he muttered to himself about her. “Bread and butter,” he repeated. “Bread and butter. A life of bread and butter. Forty years of it, good luck. Forty years of it to come. Batter pudding.” He met with Cammock in the alleyway; it occurred to him to be civil. “Captain Cammock,” he said, “will you join me in my smoking-room after dinner to-day? I’ve some Verinas tobacco. I’d like your opinion of it.”
“Thank you, sir,” said Cammock, wondering what had caused such sudden friendliness. “But which do you call your smoking-room?”
“That little tiny cabin just forward of the bath-room. It’s only big enough for a few chairs and a bookshelf.”