‘The recovery, by washing ashore or other identification, of the lamented corpses,’ said Mr Causton. ‘In the interval the – the possibly late Mrs Lucas has left no provision for the contingency we have to face. If and when her death is proved, the staff of servants will receive their wages up to date and a month’s notice. Until then the estate, I take it, will be liable for the out-goings and the upkeep of Grebe. I would see to all that, but I felt that I must get your authority first.’

‘Of course, naturally,’ said Georgie.

‘But here a difficulty arises,’ said Mr Causton. ‘I have no authority for drawing on the late – or, we hope, the present Mrs Lucas’ balance at the bank. There is, you see, no fund out of which the current expenses of the upkeep of the house can be paid. There is more than a month’s food and wages for her servants already owing.’

George’s face changed a little. A very little.

‘I had better pay them myself,’ he said. ‘Would not that be the proper course?’

‘I think, under the circumstances, that it would,’ said Mr Causton. ‘In fact, I don’t see what else is to be done, unless all the servants were discharged at once, and the house shut up.’

‘No, that would never do,’ said Georgie. ‘I must go down there and arrange about it all. If Mrs Lucas returns, how horrid for her to find all her servants who had been with her so long, gone. Everything must carry on as if she had only gone for a visit somewhere and forgotten to send a cheque for expenses.’

Here then, at any rate, was something to do already, and Georgie, thinking that he would like a little walk on this brisk morning, and also feeling sure that he would like a little conversation with friends in the High Street, put on his thinner cape, for a hint of spring was in the air, and there were snowdrops abloom in the flower-border of his little garden. Lucia, he remembered, always detested snowdrops: they hung their heads and were feeble; they typified for her slack though amiable inefficiency. In order to traverse the whole length of the High Street and get as many conversations as possible he went down by Mallards and Major Benjy’s house. The latter, from the window of his study, where he so often enjoyed a rest or a little refreshment before and after his game of golf, saw him pass, and beckoned him in.