“I’m queer myself, Christie,” he said after a pause, stopping once more in front of her. “So there we are! It appears that we’re a fair pair! And if you want to know what I feel at this moment, I’ll tell you. I feel deliciously happy. You are a witch, Christie, and I don’t wonder your mother maintained she was descended from Merlin. I feel I could tell you every secret thought I have in the world. And so, by God, I will! It’s an incredible chance that I should have found you.”

He threw his cigarette into the fire and walked to the window.

“What a view you’ve got here!” he said. “That’s the corner of Babylon Hill, isn’t it?”

The window was already open at the top; but he pulled it down as far as it would go, and leaned out of it, looking across the entanglement of slate roofs to the green incline beyond.

“The wind’s northeast, isn’t it?” he remarked.