He had met with the committee this morning and since returned to his study after lunch, often finding his own space an easier place to work in than one of the Ministry rooms. He had made some progress over the hours, but on the whole it had been a rather dull Tuesday, and for the past half-hour the most Ewart had done was in amusing himself at devising a range of new and increasingly inefficient ways of cracking walnuts.

So his wife's entrance was by all means a welcome one, and her opening statement the sort to catch his attention at once. (It was perhaps untrue to presume he would not believe it - as Ailsa knew very well, Ewart Fraser had always been a man with an open mind.) Still, he sat up straighter to attention, cracking a walnut in his hand accidentally as he peered at her pained expression, and urged her on in a wave. "Then you must tell it, my dear," Ewart added keenly, "and I shall prepare myself to be astonished!" He might have taken leave to guess at what had occurred - but he did worry, at her expression, that her story looked like it might be more mishap than miracle. But, all the same! Mishaps, misery and misadventures still made for excellent stories, as long as one survived them.

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