‘Here’s your boy, Mrs Brown. Now, off you go. He may have leave for the day. Good-bye.’
I led them away, and all I could get out of them was, ‘What a delightful old gentleman!’ Aunt Jane was quite struck with the commandant, and bluntly asked if he was married.
‘He’s a widower.’
‘How interesting!’ That was all she said, but I wondered! I wondered!
‘Here’s our hut, mater.’
As we entered Ginger and Beefy hurriedly pushed some liqueur-bottles under the blankets, while Tosher discreetly flung a rug over a series of wall pictures taken out of the Sketch and the Tatler.
‘This is the Reverend Billy Greens.’
‘How pleasant to meet you, Mr Greens! I am so glad you and my boy go to prayers so often.’
‘Yes, we are great friends,’ said Billy, tactfully evading discussion of what really was a ‘terminological inexactitude’ invented by myself.
Ginger and Tosher were next introduced, and then came Nobby.