“Good Lord!!” said Wally.
“Don’t stop,” said Jill. “I’m enjoying it.”
“How long have you been here?”
“Oh, I only just arrived. I rang the bell, and the nice old lady who is cooking your lunch told me you were out here.”
“Not lunch. Breakfast.”
“Breakfast! At this hour?”
“Won’t you join me?”
“I’ll join you. But I had my breakfast long ago.”
Wally found his despondency magically dispelled. It was extraordinary how the mere sight of Jill could make the world a different place. It was true the sun had been shining before her arrival, but in a flabby, weak-minded way, not with the brilliance it had acquired immediately he heard her voice.
“If you don’t mind waiting for about three minutes while I have a shower and dress …”