"The English upbringing is very interesting," he said, pushing back his
cap and letting out the flame of his hair. "The young ladies become very
serious. I have been in England. I have been in Balham."
But though, owing to the leather coat, the others seemed to consider
that they had an heiress amongst them, they would not let the big
Bearskin be her _impresario_ or their instructor.
"Divorce is very easy in England," said the thin man solemnly, and
turned his shoulder slightly on the Bearskin, as though he blamed him
for his stay in Balham.
When the lunch was over and the last fragment of _pate_ drawn off the
last knife upon the crust of bread that remained, Fanny's restless hopes
turned towards packing up; but she counted without the white wine and
the national repose after the midday meal. They washed their cups with
care under the outlet tap of the radiator, and, wiping them dry to the
last corner, sat back under the hedge to drink slowly.
All this time a peculiar quality had been drawing across the sun. It
grew redder and duller, till, blushing, it died out, and Fanny saw that
the morning frost had disappeared. Out to the left a mauve bank of cloud
moved up across the sky like the smoke from a titanic bonfire, and, with
the first drift of moisture towards them, the four shivered and rose
simultaneously to pack the things and put them in the car.
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