And if a doctor or a nurse were to say to them: Theres nothing on earth the matter with you!
Well, to begin with they wouldnt believe it, and their indignation would be as genuine as indignation can be.
Of course it was quite possible that Mrs Leidner might be a case of this kind.
The husband, naturally, would be the first to be deceived.
Husbands, Ive found, are a credulous lot where illness is concerned.
But all the same, it didnt quite square with what Id heard.
It didnt, for instance, fit in with that word safer.
Funny how that word had got kind of stuck in my mind.
Reflecting on it, I asked: Is Mrs Leidner a nervous woman?
Is she nervous, for instance, of living out far from anywhere?
What is there to be nervous of?
Good heavens, there are ten of them!
And theyve got guards too because of the antiquities.
Oh, no, shes not nervous at least
She seemed struck by some thought and stopped going on slowly after a minute or two.
Its odd your saying that.
Why?
Flight-Lieutenant Jervis and I rode over the other day.
It was in the morning. Most of them were up on the dig.
She was sitting writing a letter and I suppose she didnt hear us coming.
The boy who brings you in wasnt about for once, and we came straight up on to the verandah.
Apparently she saw Flight-Lieutenant Jerviss shadow thrown on the wall and she fairly screamed!
Apologized, of course.
Said she thought it was a strange man.
A bit odd, that.
I mean, even if it was a strange man, why get the wind up?
I nodded thoughtfully.
Miss Reilly was silent, then burst out suddenly:
I dont know whats the matter with them this year.
Theyve all got the jumps.
Johnson goes about so glum she cant open her mouth.
David never speaks if he can help it.
Bill, of course, never stops, and somehow his chatter seems to make the others worse.
Carey goes about looking as though something would snap any minute.
And they all watch each other as though as though Oh, I dont know, but itsqueer.
It was odd, I thought, that two such dissimilar people as Miss Reilly and Major Pennyman should have been struck in the same manner.
Just then Mr Coleman came bustling in.
Bustling was just the word for it.
If his tongue had hung out and he had suddenly produced a tail to wag you wouldnt have been surprised.
Hallo-allo, he said.
Absolutely the worlds best shopper thats me.
Have you shown nurse all the beauties of the town?
She wasnt impressed, said Miss Reilly dryly.
I dont blame her, said Mr Coleman heartily.
Of all the one-horse tumble-down places!
Not a lover of the picturesque or the antique, are you, Bill?
I cant think why you are an archaeologist.
Dont blame me for that.
Blame my guardian.
Hes a learned bird-fellow of his college browses among books in bedroom slippers that kind of man.