Part 8 (2/2)

”Crazy about her!”

”Think he'll ht lying was all very well; he could e that with passable craft, especially when, as in this instance, detection would be difficult; but prophecy was a little out of his line Though with s, he resorted to unvarnished truth:

”You never can tell about PS He's a queer little gink”

Footsteps beca See you at dinner,” George added in haste

”George!”

”Well?” he asked, delaying with ill grace

”What e convincingly

With determination and a heavy tread he went on to his room

VI

SPRING TWILIGHT

When he had shaved (with particular care) and changed his linen (triree of unco it simultaneously and with equal ferocity, for its very shabbiness) P Sybarite sought out a pipe old and disreputable enough to be a comfort to any man, and sat down by the oneof his room (top floor, hall, back) to s the dinner gong

Theco view of back yards, one and all dank, dis, hard winter Familiarity, however, had rendered P Sybarite immune to the miasma of melancholy they exhaled; the trouble in his patient blue eyes, the wrinkles that lined his forehead, owned another cause

In fact, George had wrought more disastrously upon his temper than P

Sybarite had let hiht assertions had in reality distilled a subtle poison into the little man's humour For in spite of his e hich he had overborne George's futile insistence, there still lingered in his mind (and alould, until he knew the truth hi doubt

Perhaps it was true Perhaps George had guessed shrewdly Perhaps Molly Lessing of the glove counter really was one and the saton of the fabulous fortune

Old Brian Shaynon was a known devil of infinite astuteness; it would be quite consistent with his character and past perfor control of his ward'sher into unwelcome matrimony with his son, he had contrived to over-reach her in so

Perhaps hardly likely: the hypothesis was none the less quite plausible; a thing had happened, within P Sybarite's knowledge of Brian Shaynon

Even if George's romance were true only in part, these retched circu to adopt It was really a shocking boarding-house P Sybarite had known it intimately for ten years; use had s; but he was not yet so far gone that he could forget hoholeso it s He could remember most vividly how he had loathed it for weeks, months, and years after the tide of evil fortunes had cast hi brownstone stoop (even in that distant day, cru)