‘No. Daphne’s very la-di-da. I have an awful suspicion that she wears woollen underwear.’
‘She would need it in a milk-bar in Leicester Square in April. She sounds a nice girl.’
‘Oh, she’s fine, fine. But don’t you stay too long away, or the wolf in me will prove too strong and I’ll take the first plane out to Marseilles to join you. When do you plan to go?’
‘Tomorrow morning, if I can get a seat. Move over and let me reach the telephone. If I get an early-morning service I can, with a piece of luck, get back the following day. If not, then Friday at the latest. How did you get on with Richards?’
‘Oh, we’re great buddies. But I’m a bit disillusioned.’
‘About what?’
‘About the possibilities of the trade.’
‘Doesn’t it pay?’
‘I expect it pays off in coin but not any other way, take it from me. All you can see from outside a window, believe it or not, is your own reflection in the glass. What are the names of those papers you want me to address these things to?’
Grant gave him the names of the six newspapers with the largest circulations, and sent him away with his blessing to employ his time as he saw fit until they met again.