She lay for awhile watching the orange light of evening gleaming through the creeper that entwined the comer of the stoep outside her window.

Stepping out on to the stoep with her tray, she saw him bent over the back of a chair, convulsed with coughing, and stood still in alarm.

He would be sure to smoke his pipe on the stoep before turning in.

It was a square, comfortable-looking mansion, with the Dutch stoep in front, and the half-arch of small-paned glass above the front door, which was painted white and bore a massive brass knocker.