A slight disturbance in Mike’s mind had recently occurred to make him wonder if perhaps Father Socket was not more interested in women as such than he claimed to be. There was a certain Elsie, who did his typing. He was furiously jealous of Elsie. And these girls. But Mike, shivering as from a flash of clairvoyance, cast the thought from him.

But when Father Socket said, ‘I shall myself convey the girls to Ramsgate. One by one. You must lie low. I confess I don’t like the sound of the policeman who visited you. Are you sure he was a policeman? Did you ask for his credentials? You should always demand their credentials.’ – when Father Socket spoke like this, Mike recalled his first hesitation in dealing with Freda Flower, he remembered his flash of doubt, whether Father Socket was reaching an age – sixty-two – when he might become weak. In a fever of clairvoyance and apprehension he looked at his patron and everlasting lean-upon, and said, ‘Never have dealings with such women, Father. They are denied the Kingdom. They suck the virtue – ’

‘Well, my son,’ said Father Socket, ‘don’t be fearful.’