‘I take it everything’s arranged? The troops have their orders?’ ‘Everyone’s standing by.’ Madden smiled. ‘The spare room’s been prepared. Most of Maud’s things have been moved there. The rewiring in the rest of the house has been completed. There’s only her room to be done now, and it’ll start as soon as she’s settled. But it rather depends on how she reacts. She didn’t take kindly on Friday to the idea of being moved. According to Alice, she came over all queer.’ ‘I have patients who do that, and it’s usually because they’ve spent too much time in the pub. That can hardly be Maud’s problem. No, I’m afraid it’s just as I thought. She’s plotting to keep you there. If this goes on much longer I shall come up to London myself and tell her I want my husband back.’ She caught his eye and smiled in turn. It was short of eight o’clock, but Madden had an early appointment in London and Helen was driving him to the station. The day was misty, the cloud cover low; at breakfast a little earlier they had heard a forecast on the wireless that warned of heavy fog later in the week.
