“Neglecting business?” was all Tarr said however. “Have you time for a drink?”
“Yes!” Butcher turned with an airy jerk to his car. “Shall we go to the Panthéon?”
“How about the Univers? Would that take long?”
“The Univers? Four or five minutes.—Jump in.”
When they had got to the Univers and ordered their drink, Tarr said:
“I’ve just been talking to Alan Hobson. I’ve been telling him off.”
“That’s right.—How had he deserved it?”
“Oh, he happened to drop on me when I was thinking about my girl. He began congratulating me on my engagement. So I gave him my views on marriage, and then wound up with a little improvisation about himself.”
Butcher maintained a decorous silence, drinking his beer.
“You’re not engaged to be married, are you?” he asked.