‘—So Aunt Floss jockeyed poor old Arthur into scraping acquaintance with this Jap. Kurata Kan his name was. They brought him up here for the weekend. I’ve heard that he took a great interest in everything, grinning like a monkey and asking questions. He’d got a wizard of a camera, a German one, and told them photography was his hobby. Landscape mostly, he said, but he liked doing groups of objects too. He took a photograph in the Pass. He was keen on flying. Uncle Arthur told me he must have spent a whole heap of money on private trips while he was here, taking his camera with him. He bought photographs too, particularly infra-red aerial affairs. He got the names of the photographers from the newspaper offices. We found that out afterwards, though apparently he didn’t make any secret of it at the time. It seems he was bloody quaint in his ways and talked like something out of the movies. Flossie fell for it like an avalanche. “My dear little Mr Kan.” She was frightfully bucked because he gave top price for her wool clip. The Japs always bought second-rate stuff and anyway it’s very unusual for merino wool to fetch top price. I consider the whole thing was damn fishy. When she went to England they kept up a correspondence. Flossie had always said the Japs would weigh in on our side when war came. “My Mr Kan tells me all sorts of things.” By God, there’s this to say for the totalitarian countries, they wouldn’t have had gentlemen like Mr Kurata Kan hanging about for long. I’ll hand that to them. They know how to keep the rats out of their houses.’ Douglas laughed shortly.

‘But not the bats out of their belfries,’ said Fabian. ‘Please don’t deviate into Herrenvolk-lore, Douglas.’

‘This Kan lived for half the year in Australia,’ Douglas continued. ‘Remember that. Flossie got back here in ’40, bringing Ursy and Fabian with her. Before she went Home she used to run this place on a cook and two housemaids, but the maids had gone and this time she couldn’t raise the sight of a help. Mrs Duck was looking after Uncle Arthur singlehanded. She said she couldn’t carry on like that. Ursy did what she could but she wasn’t used to housework, and anyway it didn’t suit Flossie.’

‘Ursy seemed to me to wield a very pretty mop,’ said Fabian.

‘Of course she did, but it was damned hard work scrubbing and so on, and Auntie Floss knew it.’

‘I didn’t mind,’ said Ursula.

‘Anyway, when I got back after Greece, I found the marvellous Markins running the show. And where d’you think he’d blown in from? From Sydney, with a letter from Mr Kurata Kan. Can you beat that?’

‘A reference, do you mean?’