“Don’t ramble, Freddie! Tell me how you got here.”
“Oh, that was pretty simple. I had a letter of introduction to this chappie Pilkington who’s running this show, and, we having got tolerably pally in the last few days, I went to him and asked him to let me join the merry throng. I said I didn’t want any money and the little bit of work I would do wouldn’t make any difference, so he said ‘Right ho!’ or words to that effect, and here I am.”
“But why? You can’t be doing this for fun, surely?”
“Fun!” A pained expression came into Freddie’s face. “My idea of fun isn’t anything in which jolly old Miller, the bird with the snowy hair, is permitted to mix. Something tells me that that lad is going to make it his life-work picking on me. No, I didn’t do this for fun. I had a talk with Wally Mason the night before last, and he seemed to think that being in the chorus wasn’t the sort of thing you ought to be doing, so I thought it over and decided that I ought to join the troupe too. Then I could always be on the spot, don’t you know, if there was any trouble. I mean to say, I’m not much of a chap and all that sort of thing, but still I might come in handy one of these times. Keep a fatherly eye on you, don’t you know, and what not!”
Jill was touched.
“You’re a dear, Freddie!”
“I thought, don’t you know, it would make poor old Derek a bit easier in his mind.”
Jill froze.
“I don’t want to talk about Derek, Freddie, please.”
“Oh, I know what you must be feeling. Pretty sick, I’ll bet, what? But if you could see him now …”