decided it best to call a halt to the matter and, pretending to remember

something I had urgently to attend to, excused myself, leaving my employer

looking rather bemused.

 

It was, then, a most discouraging start to what may in fact be an entirely new

sort of duty required of me; so discouraging that I must admit I have not really

made further attempts along these lines. But at the same time, I cannot escape

the feeling that Mr Farraday is not satisfied with my responses to his various

banterings.

 

Indeed, his increased persistence of late may even be my employer's way of

urging me all the more to respond in a like-minded spirit. Be that as it may,

since that first witticism concerning the gypsies, I have not been able to think

of other such witticisms quickly enough.

 

Such difficulties as these tend to be all the more preoccupying nowadays because

one does not have the means to discuss and corroborate views with one's fellow

professionals in the way one once did. Not so long ago, if any such points of

ambiguity arose regarding one's duties, one had the comfort of knowing that

before long some fellow professional whose opinion one respected would be

accompanying their employer to the house, and there would be ample opportunity

to discuss the matter. And of course, in Lord Darlington's days, when ladies and

gentlemen would often visit for many days on end, it was possible to develop a

good understanding with visiting colleagues. Indeed, in those busy days, our

servants' hall would often witness a gathering of some of the finest