CHAPTER 8
Questions of Allegiance
Mr. Hilary Wykes, the occupant of Room Two in the head office of Denmark Holdings, was a man who cultivated elegance to within a hairsbreadth of effeminacy. It was a tribute to his instinct for success that he never crossed the borderline, since that would have weakened his reputation in either of the two pools in which he swam so skillfully.
He employed one of the best tailors in London, belonged to two of the best clubs and was one of the best racing drivers ever to refuse professional status. He was seen at the best first nights with a succession of newsworthy ladies and rumour frequently touched him, yet he avoided scandal. In Deptford, where he maintained a workshop-garage, he was the center of an admiring circle of mechanics and hangers-on and the
