“Thank you,” said Jill.
There was a pause. They were both thinking of that other disaster which had happened. The presence of Derek Underhill seemed to stand like an unseen phantom between them. Finally Wally spoke at random, choosing the first words that came into his head in his desire to break the silence.
“Jolly place, this, isn’t it?”
Jill perceived that an opening for those tedious explanations had been granted her.
“Uncle Chris thinks so,” she said demurely.
Wally looked puzzled.
“Uncle Chris? Oh, your uncle?”
“Yes.”
“But—he has never been here.”
“Oh, yes. He’s giving a dinner party here tonight!”