'Good morning, Mr Guy. You're looking very brown.'
'Yes, I--I'm feeling very brown.'
The words seemed to come from him almost before he knew it, on the spur of the moment, as if the presence of a third person lent them a special significance. Reclining in the only armchair the room contained was a young gentleman of about Mr Holland's own age. He was well dressed, good looking, very much at his ease, and he regarded Mr Holland with a suggestion of amusement which seemed somehow to be very much in character.
'In questions of feeling is brown the equivalent of blue?'
Mr Holland's bearing was not so genial as the other's.
'I did not expect to see you here.'
'Nor, my dear Guy, did I expect to see you. I did not even wish to.'
'That I can easily believe.'
'It is Mr Collyer's fault that I am here, not mine. I should have been content never to set eyes on you again; and as for being in the same room with you--'
He left his sentence unfinished, with a little airy movement of his hand, which seemed to round it off with a sting. He continued to smile, although Mr Holland regarded him for a moment with eyes which were very far from smiling. The newcomer turned to the solicitor.