“What on earth do you mean,” he said, “by having marble pillars delivered round here whenever I’m out? What in God’s name do you want that thing for? Haven’t we got enough junk in the house already? There’s hardly room to move as it is, you can’t put an ashtray down without moving something first.”
“Don’t you like it?” I said, gazing at it with some pride; it was standing on a piece of newspaper in the middle of the drawing room floor.
“Like it? What on earth is there to like about a lump like that? It’s just a chunk of old stone.”
“It’s not stone, it’s marble.”
“Well, marble then. I don’t like marble, it looks like liver sausage.”
“That’s red marble, not grey marble. You might at least bother to look at it before you complain about it.”
“I’ve been looking at it for the last five minutes. I’ve never seen anything so ridiculous in my life.”
“They’ve cut your hair terribly short this time, haven’t they, David?”
“Yes, they have, and I’ll tell you why. It was because that wretched daughter of yours was larking round so much that I couldn’t keep an eye on what he was doing to me. I’m never going to take her out again.”
“You suggested taking her this time, not me. She’s always very good with me.”
“Oh yes, very bloody likely. And how much did you give for that load of rubbish?”
“Twelve pounds, and five bob delivery money.”
“What did you say?”
“Twelve pounds, and five bob delivery money.”
“You must be out of your mind.”
“Do you think so?”
“And whose money did you pay for that with? The house-keeping? Do you really think I’m going to slave away night and day so that you can go out and buy useless, hideous objects at prices that suggest that you ought to have your head seen to?”
“I’ll pay you back.”
“Oh, will you. What out of?”
“My next job. If we hadn’t come here at your request, I’d have been earning more pounds a week now than you are here, and don’t you forget it.”
“I’m not likely to forget it, the times you remind me.”
“I had a letter from Bob this morning asking me to go and do a modelling job for him next month.”
“No you didn’t. I read all your letters, and I’m telling you that if you go near that great fat slob again I’ll knock your brains out.”