There was no escaping the explanation especially when Isabel contributed:
"Come on, Flora, out with it."
"It's this way, madam. Lots of us went broke after the war—lots of us who'd only fifty quid a year to live on."
"Quid?" said Mrs. Barraclough. "Isn't that something to do with sailors and tobacco?"
"Pounds, then. We ran across Mr. Anthony out in France."
"Picked him out of a ditch near Arras with a bullet through his foot,"
Jane contributed.
"And after that got most awfully friendly and kept knocking up against each other."
Mrs. Barraclough shook her head.
"It must have been very painful for him with a bullet through his foot."
"When he heard we'd gone broke he said—just like him—'my mother's a sport, go and look after her.'"