"I don't know," she replied, with a gesture indicating, as I took it, that she didn't care if they were descending the bottomless pit.

"Shut the door," I breathed.

She did so.

"Amelia——" I began again.

"Yes, mum."

"I have felt like that."

"Like what?"

"Like—that I couldn't sleep in the same house as Pet—General Macintosh."

Her eyes became round.

"Yes, I have," I repeated.