‘If I ever find myself not too desperately busy,’ he said twinkling.
‘I shall look forward to that. Perhaps I’ll see Martin sometimes too. Perhaps it won’t be so bad.... Roddy, do you realize I’ve never known anyone of my own age except the gardener’s little girl and one or two local children—and all of you? After you left, when we were little, I was so lonely I.... You don’t know. Daddy would never let me be sent to school. Now you’re back, I expect every day to wake up and find you all vanished again.’
‘We shan’t vanish again.’
‘If only I were sure!’
‘I’m sure.’
‘Oh, you! You’re the most vanishing of all. You slip through my fingers.’
‘Not I. It’s you who do that.’
‘I?’
‘Yes. You elude....’ He made a gesture with his hand. ‘I don’t understand how you work. You’re an enigma. You intrigue me.’
‘I’m very glad.’