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 . 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 . 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 . he did n&apos;t take her home that night ; he made the excuse - lies were contagious things - his car was in dock . instead , he telephoned for a taxi for her - which he would pay for when he saw her into it outside . while they were waiting for it , she said , have you met your neighbour yet ? 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 . for a moment , he had thought it was , but that woman was less tall and also younger . no . seen her about at all ? now and again . the taxi came , and before Thornie got into it , she kissed him . give my love to your mother , he said . his distinguished neighbour had never been alone when he had encountered her in the corridor . there was always her chauffeur with her , and sometimes her maid . he had not even wished her good morning - as was the polite custom between the tenants . she looked too damn haughty every time , with her head held high - and in her spiked heels she was taller than himself . her eyes never once cast him the merest glance . sometimes she affected the smoked sun glasses with the big blue frames she &apos;d worn the day of her arrival . but the morning after Thornie dined with him , around midday , he met Mrs Longdon-Lorristone coming from the lift with the chauffeur . 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 . I &apos;m here , she said , and I &apos;ve got my key . as the chauffeur walked quickly past him , James looked back , and he saw her standing by her door , fumbling with the key . she was carrying a big black crocodile bag , and she had a parcel as well . he saw the key fall from her hand , and her stooping to pick it up - and he heard her swear . he went back , retrieved the key for her , and opened her door with it . oh , thank you ! she said . I do n&apos;t think I know your name ? it &apos;s Longdon , he said , I am a new neighbour of yours . oh ! I have heard of you . thank you so much . but - will n&apos;t you come in ? 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 . 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 &apos;s . the maid appeared , and took the parcel from her mistress , who said , leave the door , Frances . Mathew is on his way up again . and then she said , oh , do come in , Mr Longdon , unless you are in a hurry . 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 . he remarked on it , and spoke of having seen her gift to the gallery . 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 . oh , do please sit down ! she raised her voice then , and called out , Frances , bring the sherry , please . 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 ? James did so , and when he had put the glass into her hand , she said , will you please bring up the little table . I am stiff about the joints . I drop things - as you saw . and she proceeded to tell him about her arthritis . 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 . beyond the mention of her disability , she gave nothing else away . very correctly , she was handing out the polite but casual hospitality due to a new neighbour who had rendered her a small service . 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 , do n&apos;t you ? naturally , Mr Longdon ! was n&apos;t that a rather superfluous question ? but she smiled . he took his leave of her then , and they shook hands . hers was thin and bony , and very narrow across the knuckles . she did not get up from her chair . he did not encounter her again in the corridor , but he thought about her over the next ten days . 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 . 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 . she said she was sorry , she could n&apos;t that evening , and she so very rarely went out in the evenings now . it was a decided rebuff , although her voice itself sounded pleasant enough , not cold and stiff , or off-putting . he said , it &apos;s not intended to be a party . no ? but all the same , if you will forgive me . it is very kind of you to have asked me . and then , when he would have rung off , she said , I suppose you have changed the flat a lot ? I know you bought the furniture , and I imagine you &apos;ve turned it round , because no one else &apos;s arrangement ever suits one , does it ? I &apos;ve changed nothing , he said , except I &apos;ve got my own books and I &apos;ve got the desk by the window , instead of in the middle of the room . that should be an improvement . it was always too big for the centre of the room , but Sir Eric liked it that way . I think it gave him the feeling of being in his office - and more at home . then , will n&apos;t you come and see it all ? sometime , perhaps . I will let you know . he had avoided Thornie in her role of femme fatale , but she went to a great deal of trouble to find him a book on old Melbourne , which he &apos;d casually told her he wanted to read and not been able to find in any library . 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 . 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 &apos;s love . so he asked her out to dinner , and they were back where they were before she concocted that fairy tale . almost the first thing she said , was , there &apos;s a girl lodging with Mrs Hogg who Stephen Longdon-Lorristone brought home one night . what do you think of that ? he could n&apos;t think of anything , and so he said nothing . she works in the hairdressing at Longdon &apos;s , and he got her the job . he picked her up somewhere . that sounds very kind of him . Thornie laughed . oh , you men ! always stick up for each other , do n&apos;t you ? his kindness extended to taking her out to dinner and to his house for a drink after and bringing her back . Mrs Hogg saw it all . what did she see ? oh , I suppose them in the car together , and she did n&apos;t like it , even if it was milord . the girl &apos;s only a kid when all &apos;s said and done and from up-country too . you &apos;d think he &apos;d know his onions a bit more , would n&apos;t you , than to carry on like that ? he may find his wife cold . she looks it . a good-looker , mind you , if you care for that English type . I do n&apos;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 . it was the end of the holidays , and I suppose she was getting them new school clothes . she never wears a hat . that &apos;s very English , and it &apos;s caught on . once no Toorak woman would have been seen dead down-town without a hat on . they used to look - and some of the old ones still do - as if they &apos;d got a lunch date with the Queen . he wanted to say to her , do n&apos;t spread that story , Thornie . but he was n&apos;t her keeper ; neither was he the guardian of the reputation of the Longdon-Lorristone family . he was n&apos;t , as she would have said , in their league . 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 . about a week after hearing that piece of gossip from Thornie , his doorbell rang one night , shortly before nine o&apos;clock . the sound of it , in its discreet little buzz , interrupted his reading . putting down his book , he went to the door , opened it wide and saw that the caller was Mrs Longdon-Lorristone . I &apos;ve taken you , she said , at your word ! although I think the suggestion was that I should telephone you first ? but if you are not alone , and I have come at an inconvenient hour , I will go away again . please come in , he said . she stepped over the threshold , partly leaning on a stick , and he shut the door behind her . in his surprise , speech had momentarily almost deserted him . 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 . 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 . 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 . he drew up a chair for her , and took her stick away , and offered cigarettes , asking if she would have a drink . she refused the drink . then , disarmingly , she said , I suddenly felt lonely . my maid is out . she laughed . I found I was out of cigarettes too ! perhaps I smoke too much ! 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 . there is nothing like the shared confession of silly weaknesses to set a ball rolling . 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 . 