‘Yes, Mrs Gandell?’
Suddenly she was peeved. ‘Why on earth do you keep on addressing me in that fashion?’
‘I do what I want to do, and no more than that,’ he replied.
She ran her hand the length of his arm.
‘Somehow, I’ll never quite understand you, Jones.’
‘You may be right,’ he said.
He served more coffee, but she waved it away and got up. She rose to her full height, and looked down at her factotum.
‘You’ve checked everything then?’
‘I said I had, Mrs Gandell. Everything is well, and everybody is doing his duty.’
‘Well?’
Jones was staccato throughout. ‘Towel missing number one, broken chamber pot number three, and one hell of a mess in number four. Prothero a little over his time at The Lion.’
‘You are sometimes over your time at The Lion, Jones.’
‘Thank you.’
‘There’s no need to thank me,’ she said.
‘I like to do it,’ Jones said.
‘We must see to the laundry.’
‘Will see.’
‘I thought I heard that Miss Vaughan crying last night, Jones.’
‘Crying? Rubbish.’
When she suddenly sat down again, Jones followed.
‘I peeped into her room once, Mrs Gandell, and do you know what?’
‘What?’
‘She was lying flat on her back, staring up at the ceiling. Her arms were folded on her chest, and she was just staring and staring, and smiling.…’ He paused, then added, ‘Just think of that.’
‘I hope she didn’t see you.’
‘Didn’t. I think she was well away, Mrs Gandell.’
He was struck by a sudden puzzlement on the Gandellian features.
‘Strange,’ she said.
Jones stiffened, and almost exploded in her face. ‘Strange? Nothing’s strange, Mrs Gandell. It’s the way you look at a thing, that’s all.’
‘I don’t quite follow you.’
‘Shouldn’t if I were you, Mrs Gandell,’ he snapped.
‘You are a moody little man, Jones.’
‘Thank you.’
‘No need to go on thanking me.’
Jones leaned very close across the table. ‘What does that mean?’
Mrs Gandell spoke so quietly that Jones had to strain to catch the words.
‘Perhaps a woman like Miss Vaughan talks in her sleep.’
And Jones shouted, ‘Does it matter?’
‘What on earth’s the matter with you this morning, Jones?’
Jones banged down his cup. ‘Nothing.’ And after a pause, ‘Why not ask her yourself?’
‘I might do that,’ she said.
