LUCIEN It is, indeed, singular that western man, while refusing to place credence in anything he cannot see, while rejecting absolutely omens, prophecies, and visions, should at the same time, as he so often does, deny the evidence of his own eyes. OSBERT SITWELL The first time it occurred to poor Millie that something might really be wrong was, on the face of it, perfectly harmless and commonplace. Uncle Stephen, the boys’ great uncle, had found the words, conventional though the words were. ‘You’re much too big a boy to make messes like that, Rodney. And you too, of course, Angus.’ ‘Angus wasn’t making a mess,’ Rodney had retorted. ‘There’s no need to bite his head off too.’ ‘Keep quiet, boy, and clean yourself up,’ Uncle Stephen had rejoined, exactly as if he had been father to the lads, and a good and proper father also. In reality, however, Uncle Stephen was a bachelor. ‘I’ll take you up to the bathroom, Rodney,’ Millie had intervened. ‘If you’ll excuse us for a few moments, Uncle Stephen.’ Uncle Stephen had made no effort to look pleasant and social.
