However,
I greeted him civilly enough:
"Bless my soul, you are looking as fit as a fiddle!" he cried.
"Where have you been, and what have you been doing since I saw
you last?"
"Nothing much," I replied, "beyond trying to settle down in a
reformed world."
"Reformed world!" echoed Adderley. "More like a ruined world it
has seemed to me."
He laughed loudly. That he had already explored several bottles
was palpable.
We were silent for a while, mentally weighing one another up, as
it were. Then:
"Are you living in town?" asked Adderley.
"I am staying at the Carlton at the moment," I replied. "My
chambers are in the hands of the decorators. It's awkward.
Interferes with my work."
"Work!" cried Adderley. "Work! It's a nasty word, Knox. Are
you doing anything now?"
"Nothing, until eight o'clock, when I have an appointment."
"Come along to my place," he suggested, "and have a cup of tea,
or a whisky and soda if you prefer it."
Probably I should have refused, but even as he spoke I was
mentally translated to the lounge of the Hotel de l'Europe, and
prompted by a very human curiosity I determined to accept his
invitation. I wondered if Fate had thrown an opportunity in my
way of learning the end of the peculiar story which had been
related on that occasion.
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