“Hullo, Johnny-boy.
Come in.”
He swung on the handles of the door, half in, half out of the room.
“Have you had breakfast?
Mummy said you wouldn't be awake.”
“I've been awake a long time.
You see I was once very badly hurt, and now I don't always sleep well.
Even the softest beds are too hard for me now.”
“Ooh.
What did you do?
Was it a motor car accident?”
“Not an accident, Johnny-boy, not an accident … but come.
It's cold with the door open.
Look there are some grapes here.
Would you like to eat them?”
John climbed on to the bed.
“What are you going to do today?”
“I don't know yet.
I haven't been told.”
“Well I'll tell you.
We'll go to church in the morning because I have to and then we'll go and look at Thunderclap and I'll show you the place we jump and then you can come with me while I have dinner because I have it early and afterwards we can go down to Bruton wood and we needn't take nanny because it makes her so muddy and you can see where they dug out a fox in the drain just outside the wood, he nearly got away and then you can come and have tea in the nursery and I've got a little gramophone Uncle Reggie gave me for Christmas and it plays `When Father Papered the Parlour,' do you know that song.
Ben can sing it, and I've got some books to show you and a picture I did of the battle of Marston Moor.”
“I think that sounds a lovely day.
But don't you think I ought to spend some time with daddy and mummy and Lady Cockpurse?”
“Oh, them … besides it's all my foot about Lady Cockpurse having a tail.
Please you will spend the day with me?”
“Well, we'll see.”
“She's gone to church with him.
That's a good sign isn't it?”
“Well, not really, Polly.
He likes going alone, or with me.
It's the time he gossips to the village.”
“She won't stop him.”
“I'm afraid you don't understand the old boy altogether.
He's much odder than you'd think.”
“I could see from your sermon that you knew the East, rector.”
“Yes, yes, most of my life.”
“It has an uncanny fascination, hasn't it?”
“Oh come on,” said John, pulling at her coat.
“We must go and see Thunderclap.”
So Tony returned alone with the button-holes.
After luncheon Brenda said,
“Why don't you show Jenny the house?”
“Oh yes, do.”
When they reached the morning room he said,
“Brenda's having it done up.”
There were planks and ladders and heaps of plaster about.
“Oh, Teddy, what a shame.
I do hate seeing things modernized.”
“It isn't a room we used very much.”