She had forgotten that she had already told him about the man who was the hero in another context that could not , by any stroke of circumstance or fate , be linked with what she had now concocted .sx It had been calculated to place her in a romantic light , but all it did was to make her seem more pitiable- and for that he could have hated her .sx He liked her brash and vulgar , the teller , as she had occasionally become , of dirty stories , because it was as chummy and uncomplicated as being with another man in a bar .sx He didn't take her home that night ; he made the excuse- lies were contagious things- his car was in dock .sx Instead , he telephoned for a taxi for her- which he would pay for when he saw her into it outside .sx While they were waiting for it , she said , " Have you met your neighbour yet ?sx " They were in the entrance hall , and a car had driven up , out of which stepped a grey-haired woman in a Persian lamb coat- but it was not his neighbour , not the one Thornie meant .sx For a moment , he had thought it was , but that woman was less tall and also younger .sx " No .sx " " Seen her about at all ?sx " " Now and again .sx " The taxi came , and before Thornie got into it , she kissed him .sx " Give my love to your mother , " he said .sx His distinguished neighbour had never been alone when he had encountered her in the corridor .sx There was always her chauffeur with her , and sometimes her maid .sx He had not even wished her good morning- as was the polite custom between the tenants .sx She looked too damn haughty every time , with her head held high- and in her spiked heels she was taller than himself .sx Her eyes never once cast him the merest glance .sx Sometimes she affected the smoked sun glasses with the big blue frames she'd worn the day of her arrival .sx But the morning after Thornie dined with him , around midday , he met Mrs. Longdon-Lorristone coming from the lift with the chauffeur .sx They had barely passed him when he heard her tell the chauffeur she had left something in the car , and that he was to go back for it , she could manage .sx " I'm here , " she said , " and I've got my key .sx " As the chauffeur walked quickly past him , James looked back , and he saw her standing by her door , fumbling with the key .sx She was carrying a big black crocodile bag , and she had a parcel as well .sx He saw the key fall from her hand , and her stooping to pick it up- and he heard her swear .sx He went back , retrieved the key for her , and opened her door with it .sx " Oh , thank you !sx " she said .sx " I don't think I know your name ?sx " " It's Longdon , " he said , " I am a new neighbour of yours .sx " " Oh !sx I have heard of you .sx Thank you so much .sx But- won't you come in ?sx " He looked at his watch ; he would be late for lunch down-town , but perhaps his guests could cool their heels for a little while .sx One of them was trying to interest him in launching a literary magazine- and there was no possible future in it , in a country with a population the size of Australia's .sx The maid appeared , and took the parcel from her mistress , who said , " Leave the door , Frances .sx Mathew is on his way up again .sx " And then she said , " Oh , do come in , Mr. Longdon , unless you are in a hurry .sx " Her flat was pretty much what he had expected ; the apartment of a rich woman of taste , and his eye immediately alighted on a Degas .sx He remarked on it , and spoke of having seen her gift to the gallery .sx " My son , " she said , " has a Renoir , one I gave him when he married the first time , " as other women might speak casually of having given their sons a car they had no further use for .sx " Oh , do please sit down !sx " She raised her voice then , and called out , " Frances , bring the sherry , please .sx " She sat down in a wing armchair , and when the decanter and two glasses were brought on a round silver tray , she said , " Will you pour your own , please , and one for me ?sx " James did so , and when he had put the glass into her hand , she said , " Will you please bring up the little table .sx I am stiff about the joints .sx I drop things- as you saw .sx " And she proceeded to tell him about her arthritis .sx He did not sit down ; he stood with his drink , sipping it , and studying her from top to toe- a woman remarkably well-preserved for her age , who might easily pass for one much younger .sx Beyond the mention of her disability , she gave nothing else away .sx Very correctly , she was handing out the polite but casual hospitality due to a new neighbour who had rendered her a small service .sx Challenged more by her correctness than by any encouragement to talk of any topic beyond the weather and how long he had been in Melbourne , he said , " You know my flat , don't you ?sx " " Naturally , Mr. Longdon !sx Wasn't that a rather superfluous question ?sx " But she smiled .sx He took his leave of her then , and they shook hands .sx Hers was thin and bony , and very narrow across the knuckles .sx She did not get up from her chair .sx He did not encounter her again in the corridor , but he thought about her over the next ten days .sx Once , when her door was open to admit a caller , he heard the radio on ; and he heard it , again , late at night , muffled through that closed door and the supposedly soundproof wall .sx Then he telephoned her early one morning , and asked her if she would come and have a drink with him that evening , or any other that suited her .sx She said she was sorry , she couldn't that evening , and she so very rarely went out in the evenings now .sx It was a decided rebuff , although her voice itself sounded pleasant enough , not cold and stiff , or off-putting .sx He said , " It's not intended to be a party .sx " " No ?sx But all the same , if you will forgive me .sx It is very kind of you to have asked me .sx " And then , when he would have rung off , she said , " I suppose you have changed the flat a lot ?sx I know you bought the furniture , and I imagine you've turned it round , because no one else's arrangement ever suits one , does it ?sx " " I've changed nothing , " he said , " except I've got my own books and I've got the desk by the window , instead of in the middle of the room .sx " " That should be an improvement .sx It was always too big for the centre of the room , but Sir Eric liked it that way .sx I think it gave him the feeling of being in his office- and more at home .sx " " Then , won't you come and see it all ?sx " " Sometime , perhaps .sx I will let you know .sx " He had avoided Thornie in her role of 6femme fatale , but she went to a great deal of trouble to find him a book on old Melbourne , which he'd casually told her he wanted to read and not been able to find in any library .sx She had finally unearthed it at the back of a second-hand bookshop , without any cover to indicate its title or its value to collectors , and she left it in a parcel on his doorstep one day when he was out .sx She must have hoped to find him in , as there was no letter with it , only an obviously hastily-written message on the outside , " With Thornie's love .sx " So he asked her out to dinner , and they were back where they were before she concocted that fairy tale .sx Almost the first thing she said , was , " There's a girl lodging with Mrs. Hogg who Stephen Longdon-Lorristone brought home one night .sx What do you think of that ?sx " He couldn't think of anything , and so he said nothing .sx " She works in the hairdressing at Longdon's , and he got her the job .sx He picked her up somewhere .sx " " That sounds very kind of him .sx " Thornie laughed .sx " Oh , you men !sx Always stick up for each other , don't you ?sx His kindness extended to taking her out to dinner and to his house for a drink after and bringing her back .sx Mrs. Hogg saw it all .sx " " What did she see ?sx " " Oh , I suppose them in the car together , and she didn't like it , even if it was milord .sx The girl's only a kid when all's said and done and from up-country too .sx You'd think he'd know his onions a bit more , wouldn't you , than to carry on like that ?sx He may find his wife cold .sx She looks it .sx A good-looker , mind you , if you care for that English type .sx I don't often go down on the ground floor , but we get the usual discount on what we buy and I was getting stockings one lunch hour when she came through with all the kids in tow .sx It was the end of the holidays , and I suppose she was getting them new school clothes .sx She never wears a hat .sx That's very English , and it's caught on .sx Once no Toorak woman would have been seen dead down-town without a hat on .sx They used to look- and some of the old ones still do- as if they'd got a lunch date with the Queen .sx " He wanted to say to her , " Don't spread that story , Thornie .sx " But he wasn't her keeper ; neither was he the guardian of the reputation of the Longdon-Lorristone family .sx He wasn't , as she would have said , in their league .sx Among the acquaintances he had made- and he had made a good many by now- there was not one who could claim to know the mother , the son , or the daughter-in-law , other than by repute .sx About a week after hearing that piece of gossip from Thornie , his doorbell rang one night , shortly before nine o'clock .sx The sound of it , in its discreet little buzz , interrupted his reading .sx Putting down his book , he went to the door , opened it wide and saw that the caller was Mrs. Longdon-Lorristone .sx " I've taken you , " she said , " at your word !sx Although I think the suggestion was that I should telephone you first ?sx But if you are not alone , and I have come at an inconvenient hour , I will go away again .sx " " Please come in , " he said .sx She stepped over the threshold , partly leaning on a stick , and he shut the door behind her .sx In his surprise , speech had momentarily almost deserted him .sx He had been deep in his reading , and in another century , another world , and the adjustment to the present one had been slow to come .sx He was associating her with the character of a Byzantine empress , with conflicting tragedies being enacted over her head , Nemesis catching up with her , punishing her for her ruthlessness and selfishness and her passion for getting her own way .sx But what he saw was an ageing , hesitant Australian woman in her slow walk from the front door to the living-room , where she paused and said , " It is a great improvement , " meaning , he presumed , the desk he had moved near the window .sx He drew up a chair for her , and took her stick away , and offered cigarettes , asking if she would have a drink .sx She refused the drink .sx Then , disarmingly , she said , " I suddenly felt lonely .sx My maid is out .sx " She laughed .sx " I found I was out of cigarettes too !sx Perhaps I smoke too much !sx " It was the opening for a little discussion on the minor vices , as two shipboard companions might talk while occupying long chairs side by side .sx There is nothing like the shared confession of silly weaknesses to set a ball rolling .sx That was only the preliminary , for she wanted to know all about him ; not quite all , she was too polite , but the outline of his past , which he gave her as he had given it to Thornie .sx