"Why should we go there?
They will be only turning us out in the small hours, to go home and face insomnia.

Can you imagine anything more disgusting ?" He was smiling all the time, but his deep-set eyes did not lend themselves to the expression of whimsical politeness which he tried to achieve.

He had another suggestion to offer.

Why shouldn't we adjourn to his rooms?
He had there materials for a dish of his own invention for which he was famous all along the line of the Royal Cavalry outposts, and he would cook it for us.

There were also a few bottles of some white wine, quite possible, which we could drink out of Venetian cut-glass goblets.