‘Only me,’ I reassured her, as I advanced down the passage with the load.
I dumped the things in the kitchen, and went back for those I’d dropped. Outside her door I paused.
‘You can’t come in,’ she said.
‘That wasn’t quite my intended angle,’ I protested. ‘What I want to know is, can you cook?’
‘Boiled egg standard,’ said her muffled voice.
‘I was afraid of that. There’s an awful lot of things we’re going to have to learn,’ I told her.
I went back to the kitchen. I erected the oil-stove I had brought on top of the useless electric cooker, and got busy.
When I’d finished laying the places at the small table in the sitting-room, the effect seemed to me fairly good. I fetched a few candles and candlesticks to complete it, and set them ready. Of Josella there was still no visible sign,
