«I know,» said J. He had been a guest at this same estate a number of times before, during, and after World War II.

«The thing of it is,» said the young earl, «I think father would have liked you to have a chance at the Herefordshire estate.»

«Why me?» said J. His placidity was even more deceptive now.

«Well, he always said he thought you were in some sort of-well, secret intelligence work. M15 or something like that. You know, James Bond stuff?»

«Suppose I were?» said J. «What does that have to do with the estate?»

«If you were, it occurred to father that you might want a training center of some sort. A nice secluded training center, someplace where a lot of tourists and passersby won't be butting in.»

J nodded. He kept his professional poker face, so he did not light up like a Christmas tree with sheer delight. At least not on the outside. But he did take a deep breath before saying, «I see.»

«We'd have to sell it,» the young earl went on. «I doubt if the law would just let us donate it. But I'll see about keeping the price down as far as I can. I know the intelligence agencies aren't exactly rolling in money these days.»

«Except in America,» said J with a wry grin. The wealth of people and equipment that his American colleagues had was always a sore point with him, sometimes a major one. They could claim at least a dozen estates of the size the young earl was offering.

«True,» said the younger man. «But I think father would have wanted you to get it cheap. He was always very big on the patriotic type of stuff-doing your bit for England and all that sort of thing.»

«Yes,» said J in an even voice. «He was 'very big' on serving England. He risked his life doing it in two wars, as a matter of fact.»