“More happens in this High Street than anywhere else in the world,” said Mr. Carton, accommodating his long stride to her walk. “I’ve been away with my mother, but I can assure you that Bognor was the Gobi Desert compared with Harefield. And here is Oriel. Much as I like and value Oriel, I sometimes feel that if I meet him more than five times a day in the High Street I shall come to hate him. A delightful man, but he cannot see one without stopping to talk.”
They were now abreast of Clive’s Corner, a long two-storied house in the angle formed by the High Street and Bodger’s Lane. Mr. Oriel was coming down the steps accompanied by Mr. Updike the solicitor.
“Ha, Carton, we meet again,” said Mr. Oriel, and took his hat off to Mrs. Belton. Mr. Updike with a friendly gesture disappeared into
