Miss Craven eyed him from head to foot with a grim smile that
changed to a whole-hearted laugh of amusement.

"It's a pity you have so much money, Barry, you would make your
fortune as a model. You are too criminally good looking to go
fluttering into convents."

A ghost of the old smile flickered in his eyes.

"Come and chaperon me, Aunt Caro."

She shook her head laughingly.

"Thank you--no. There are limits. I draw the line at convents.
Go and get it over, and if the child is presentable you can bring
her back to tea. I gather that Mary is anticipating a complete
failure on our part to sustain the situation and is prepared to
deputise. She has already ransacked _Au Paradis Des Enfants_ for
suitable bribes wherewith to beguile her infantile affection. I
understand that there was a lively scene over the purchase of a
doll, the cost of which--clad only in its birthday dress--was
reported to me as 'a fair affront.' Even after all these years
Mary jibs at Continental prices. It is her way of keeping up the
prestige of the British Empire, bless her. An overcharge, in her
opinion, is a deliberate twist of the lion's tail."

In the taxi he looked through the correspondence he had received
that morning for the lawyer's letter that would establish his claim
to John Locke's child. Then he leaned back and lit a cigarette. He