XXVI

“You are right. My real name is Harry Lucas. My father was a retired soldier who came out to farm in Rhodesia. He died when I was in my second year at Cambridge.”

“Were you fond of him?” I asked suddenly.

“I⁠ ⁠… don’t know.”

Then he flushed and went on with sudden vehemence:

“Why do I say that? I did love my father. We said bitter things to each other the last time I saw him, and we had many rows over my wildness and my debts, but I cared for the old man. I know how much now⁠—when it’s too late,” he continued more quietly. “It was at Cambridge that I met the other fellow⁠—”

“Young Eardsley?”

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