Silent acquiescence on his part, however, was not what Verity wanted.

He, too, knew when to hold his tongue.

After a long interval, during which a robin piped a merry roundelay from the depths of a neighboring pink hawthorn, Coke dug out a question.
"Premium gone up, then ?" he inquired.
"She's on a twelve-month rate.

It runs out in September.

If you're lucky, an' fill up with nitrate soon, you may be 'ome again.