'Yes.'
Elizabeth struck it a resounding blow with the palm of her hand,
and Eustace's face popped over the edge, peering down anxiously.
'I can see it now,' said Nutty. A sudden, faint hope came to him.
'Can you see it?' he asked.
Elizabeth did not speak for a moment. This was an unusual situation, and she was wondering how to treat it. She was sorry for Nutty, but Providence had sent this thing and it would be foolish to reject it. She must look on herself in the light of a doctor. It would be kinder to Nutty in the end. She had the feminine aversion from the lie deliberate. Her ethics on the suggestio falsi were weak. She looked at Nutty questioningly.
'See it?' she said.
'Don't you see a monkey on the top of the wardrobe?' said Nutty, becoming more definite.
'There's a sort of bit of wood sticking out—'
Nutty sighed.
'No, not that. You didn't see it. I don't think you would.'
He spoke so dejectedly that for a moment Elizabeth weakened, but only for an instant.
'Tell me all about this, Nutty,' she said.