No. James had never spoken to him about that.

But he had spoken to Mr Merriot, and Mr Merriot had discussed the Millenaria with Cooper-ffrench. And it must have been shortly after that when Cooper-ffrench announced that he wanted to come on the trip to Sardinia.

Well, whatever the reason for him being here, James was very soon going to be getting away from him.

‘You can’t leave m-me with the dread Fitzpaine,’ Perry complained. ‘He gets worse every day. The chap’s a m-monster!’

‘Just ignore him,’ said James. ‘I’ve learnt not to be pushed around by boys who think they’re something more than they really are.’

‘It’s all right for you,’ said Perry. ‘You can look after yourself.’ He stopped eating for a moment and raised his head from his plate. ‘What does old Love-Haight think about you jumping ship?’ he said.

‘I haven’t told him yet,’ said James. ‘I’ve been waiting for the right moment.’

‘No time like the present,’ said Perry and, before James could stop him, he bellowed down the length of the table, ‘I say, James Bond’s had enough! He’s leaving us in the lurch.’

Cooper-ffrench’s ears pricked up. ‘What’s that?’ he said.

‘I’m still feeling a little odd, sir,’ James lied. ‘I’m leaving the trip early. I have a cousin in the north of the island. I shall be staying with him for the rest of the holidays.’

‘This is not acceptable,’ said Cooper-ffrench, who looked slightly panicked.

‘But it was always understood that I wouldn’t be staying on for the whole three weeks,’ said James.

Before Cooper-ffrench could respond to this, Haight interrupted. ‘That was the arrangement,’ he said.

‘I knew nothing about it,’ protested Cooper-ffrench.

‘It was decided before you joined us,’ said Haight. ‘I spoke to James’s aunt before we left.’ Haight turned to James. ‘But you’re leaving much sooner than I thought,’ he said. ‘You’ll miss out on a lot.’ He looked a little disappointed.

‘Tell me about this cousin,’ said Cooper-ffrench. ‘Is he respectable?’

‘He’s an engineer,’ said James, ‘or at least he used to be. He’s retired now, I think. He’s a lot older than me. He paints.’

‘Really?’ said Haight. ‘Is he well known?’

‘I don’t think so. He just paints for fun.’

‘We are rather straying from the point here,’ said Cooper-ffrench.

‘Oh, come on, John,’ said Haight, and he laughed. ‘I’m just trying to find out a little about Bond’s cousin.’

‘His whole house is stuffed with paintings, apparently,’ said James. ‘And a famous Italian artist lives there with him, Polly, something –’

‘Not Poliponi?’ said Haight.

‘Yes,’ said James. ‘Have you heard of him?’

‘I’ll say. Interesting chap.’ Haight smiled. ‘You are full of surprises, Bond. Imagine your cousin knowing one of the most famous artists in the world.’

‘I’ve seen some of this Poliponi man’s work,’ said Cooper-ffrench. ‘And, quite frankly, it’s disgusting. But if that was the arrangement, I shan’t interfere. I still don’t like the idea of James just flitting off like this when he was supposed to be on an educational trip, however.’