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“How you always e”

“We like to make our old friends comfortable”

“Takesseeed”

He broke off as Mr Hureet him

Mr Humfries was often taken by the uninitiated to be Mr Bertram in person Who the actual Mr Bertram was, or indeed, if there ever had been a Mr Bertram was now lost in the mists of antiquity Bertram’s had existed since about 1840, but nobody had taken any interest in tracing its past history It was just there, solid, in fact When addressed as Mr Bertram, Mr Humfries never corrected the impression If they wanted him to be Mr Bertram he would be Mr Bertrah he didn’t know if Huer or the owner He rather fancied the latter

Mr Huood manners, and the presence of a Junior Minister He could, at anyshop, cricket, foreign politics, tell anecdotes of Royalty, give Motor Show infor plays on at present—advise on places Aland however short their stay He had knowledgeable information about where it would suit persons of all incomes and tastes to dine With all this, he did not make hie had all the saertips and could retail them efficiently At brief intervals Mr Humfries, like the sun, made his appearance above the horizon and flattered someone by his personal attention

This tied a few racing platitudes, but Colonel Luscombe was absorbed by his probleive him the answer

“Tell e to come and stay here?”

“Oh you’ve been wondering about that?” Mr Humfries seemed amused “Well, the answer’s simple They couldn’t afford it Unless—”

He paused

“Unless you make special prices for them? Is that it?”

“More or less They don’t know, usually, that they are special prices, or if they do realize it, they think it’s because they’re old customers”

“And it isn’t just that?”

“Well, Colonel Lusco a hotel I couldn’t afford actually to lose money”

“But how can that pay you?”

“It’s a question of at to this country (Americans, in particular, because they are the ones who have the land is like I’, you understand, of the rich business tycoons who are always crossing the Atlantic They usually go to the Savoy or the Dorchester They want s that will make them feel at home But there are a lot of people who come abroad at rare intervals and who expect this country to be—well, I won’t go back as far as Dickens, but they’ve read Cranford and Henry James, and they don’t want to find this country just the sao back home afterwards and say: ‘There’s a wonderful place in London; Bertra back a hundred years It just is old England! And the people who stay there! People you’d never come across anywhere else Wonderful old Duchesses They serve all the old English dishes, there’s a ! You’ve never tasted anything like it; and great sirloins of beef and saddles of lish breakfast And of course all the usual things as well And it’s wonderfully co fires’”

Mr Humfries ceased his i nearly approaching a grin

“I see,” said Luscohtfully “These people; decayed aristocrats, impoverished members of the old County families, they are all so much mise en scène?”

Mr Hureement

“I really wonder no one else has thought of it Of course I found Bertram’s ready-made, so to speak All it needed was some rather expensive restoration All the people who co that they’ve discovered for themselves, that no one else knows about”

“I suppose,” said Luscombe, “that the restoration was quite expensive?”

“Oh yes The place has got to look Edwardian, but it’s got to have the ranted in these days Our old dears—if you will forgivehas changed since the turn of the century, and our travelling clients have got to feel they can have period surroundings, and still have what they are used to having at home, and can’t really live without!”

“Bit difficult soested Luscombe

“Not really Take central heating for instance Arees Fahrenheit higher than English people do We actually have two quite different sets of bedroolish we put in one lot, the Americans in the other The rooms all look alike, but they are full of actual differences—electric razors, and showers as well as tubs in som

e of the bathrooms, and if you want an Ae juice and all—or if you prefer you can have the English breakfast”

“Eggs and bacon?”

“As you say—but a good deal more than that if you want it Kippers, kidneys and bacon, cold grouse, York ham Oxford marmalade”

“I et that sort of thing anymore at home”

Humfries smiled

“Most gentleot out of the way of thinking about the things there used to be”

“Yes, yes…I re with hot dishes Yes, it was a luxurious way of life”

“We endeavour to give people anything they ask for”

“Including seed cake andto his need—I see…Quite Marxian”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Just a thought, Humfries Extremes meet”

Colonel Luscoe offered hi to attention and conducted hi that Lady Selina Hazy was now sitting with her friend Jane So or other

Chapter Two

“And I suppose you’re still living at that dear St Mary Mead?” Lady Selina was asking “Such a sweet unspoilt village I often think about it Just the same as ever, I suppose?”

“Well, not quite” Miss Marple reflected on certain aspects of her place of residence The new Building Estate The additions to the Village Hall, the altered appearance of the High Street with its up-to-date shop fronts—She sighed “One has to accept change, I suppose”