ONE:
FORE:Mrs Keeling, fractious from her afternoon of absolute insomnia, forced a small tear out of one of her eyes.And now that he had disappeared there was a strong chance that he would never return, and that his personality and all that was connected with him would dissolve from[Pg 193] memory of man or crystallise into a legend. That seemed a legitimate consummation of the affair, and it was the one that Doctor Allingham finally accepted. This visitation, like other alleged miracles in the past, had a meaning; and it was the meaning that mattered more than the actual miracle. To discover the significance of the Clockwork man seemed to Doctor Allingham a task worthy of the highest powers of man.
FORE:I enjoyed that afternoon I spent there, she said. They are kind, they are simple, and it is only simple people who count. I wonder if Lord Inverbroom gave the wing himself.And then saying to Alice, I think you and my slippers have met before! That was fun, was it not? I saw you enjoyed that, Thomas, and{309} when you are pleased, Im sure the joke is good enough for anybody. I wish I had asked Lord and Lady Inverbroom to dine to-night. They would have enjoyed it too, though perhaps he would feel a little shy of meeting you after that snub you gave him and his Club in taking their premises away from them.
