“Have you got a spare bedroom for me, Antony?”
I stared, Antony stared. Then Antony smiled, and never before had I seen him smile quite like that.
“Thank you, George,” he said, almost softly. “Now that’s really a friendly action. But I’ll be all right—you needn’t worry.”
Then he addressed me as well; I had never seen Antony so reasonable.
“Come to dinner here to-morrow night,” he begged. “Both of you. I can give you quite a good dinner.” He seemed very earnest, looking from one to the other of us. I was going to say I was engaged, but Tarlyon answered quickly:
“Right, Antony.” And because he looked at me in a certain way, I let it be.
IV
In the taxi, at last, Tarlyon said:
“Ralph, you risked your life by turning on that light, but you did a great service.”
“What do you mean?”