"I haven't got a family."
"Well, what brings you here of all places in the world?"
"My cousin Audrey Craven."
There was no reserve about Hardy. At the name, so unexpectedly spoken, the under-world opened again for Ted, with all its Furies. They walked on for some minutes in silence, then Hardy began again—
"I called to see her. Of course she was out. Hard lines, wasn't it?"
Ted forced himself to speak. "Oh yes, beastly hard."
"You must have met her lately. How is she looking?"
"Oh, remarkably cheerful, when I last saw her."
"When was that?" Hardy asked, a little anxiously.
"The day before yesterday."