'Oh, just a couple of quid. He wanted three, but I beat him down. Preposterous, I mean to say,' said Augustine warmly. 'Three quid for a perfectly simple, easy job like that? And so I told him.'
'It shall be returned to you, Mulliner.'
'No, no, Bish.'
'Yes, Mulliner, it shall be returned to you. I have not the sum on my person, but I will forward you a cheque to your new address, The Vicarage, Steeple Mummery, Hants.'
Augustine's eyes filled with sudden tears. He grasped the other's hand.
'Bish,' he said in a choking voice, 'I don't know how to thank you. But—have you considered?'
'Considered?'
'The wife of thy bosom. Deuteronomy xiii, 6. What will she say when you tell her?'
The bishop's eyes gleamed with a resolute light.
'Mulliner,' he said, 'the point you raise had not escaped me. But I have the situation well in hand. A bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter. Ecclesiastes x, 20. I shall inform her of my decision on the long-distance telephone.'