“What a girl!  What a girl!” thought Mr. Prohack.  But there were limits to his iniquity, and he said aloud, benevolently, grandiosely:  “But I did know about it.  You as good as told me exactly what you meant to do, and I let you do it.  I approved, and I am responsible.  Nothing will induce me to let you take the responsibility.  Let that be clearly understood, please.”

He looked squarely at the girl, and watched with apprehension her aspiring nose rise still further, her delicate ruthless mouth become still more ruthless.

“Excuse me,” she said.  “My plan is the best.  It’s the obvious plan.  Mr. Carrel Quire often adopted it.  I’m afraid you’re hesitating to trust me as I expect to be trusted.  Please don’t forget that you sacrificed an empire for me—­I shall always remember that.  And what’s more, you said you expected from me absolute loyalty to your interests.  I can stand anything but not being trusted—­fully!”

Mr. Prohack sank deeper into the bed, and laughed loudly, immoderately, titanically.  His ill-humour vanished as a fog will vanish.  Nevertheless he was appalled by the revelation of the possibilities of the girl’s character.

The strange scene was interrupted by the arrival of Charlie, who, thanks to his hypnotic influence over Machin, came masterfully straight upstairs, entered the bedroom without asking permission to do so, and, in perfect indifference to the alleged frailty of his father’s health, proceeded to business.

II

“Dad,” said he, after Mimi had gone through her self-ordained martyrdom and left the room.  “I wonder whether you quite realise what a top-hole creature that Warburton girl is.  She’s perfectly astounding.”

“She is,” Mr. Prohack admitted.

“She’s got ideas.”

“She has.”

“And she isn’t afraid of carrying them out.”

“She is not.”

“She’s much too good for you, dad.”

“She is.”

“I mean, you can’t really make full use of her, can you?  She’s got no scope here.”

“She makes her own scope,” said Mr. Prohack.

“Now I honestly do need a good secretary,” Charlie at last unmasked his attack.  “I’ve got a temporary idiot, and I want a first-rater, preferably a woman.  I wish you’d be decent and turn Miss Warburton over to me.  She’d be invaluable to me, and with me she really would have scope for her talents.”  Charlie laughed.

“What are you laughing at?”

“I was only thinking of her having the notion of queering the drains like that because she wanted to please you.  It was simply great.  It’s the best thing I ever heard.”  He laughed again.  “Now, dad, will you turn her over to me?”

“You appear to think she’s a slave to be bought and sold and this room the slave-market,” said Mr. Prohack.  “It hasn’t occurred to you that she might object to the transfer.”