“ Mr. Thesiger would like to speak to you on the telephone, my lady.”

Bundle set off at full speed for the house, yelling “Loraine, Loraine,” as she did so. Loraine joined her just as she was lifting the receiver.

“Hallo, is that you, Jimmy?”

“Hallo. How are you?”

“Very fit, but a bit bored.”

“How’s Loraine?”

“She’s all right. She’s here. Do you want to speak to her?”

“In a minute. I’ve got a lot to say. To begin with, I’m going down to the Cootes for the weekend,” he said significantly. “Now, look here, Bundle, you don’t know how one gets hold of skeleton keys, do you?”