Moonchild

Lord Antony stopped with a jerk; and lifting his liqueur glass, drained it suddenly. Sister Cybele rose and bowed to Simon Iff. But Cyril Grey's voice rose in a high-pitched drawl: "Better a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled prawn, and discontentment therewith!" The Master frowned him down. "Gentlemen!" he said, "It is the custom of this House that its guests pay for their entertainment. Lord Antony Bowling has done so by his delightful story; Mr. Morningside by his brilliant theory upon the function of food; and the Mahathera Phang by his silence. I may say that I expected no less, and no different, from any one of you; we are overpaid; and the debt of gratitude is ours. Morningside was pleased; he thhought the compliment sincere Bowling understood something of the soul which had escaped him until that moment; the Mahathera Phang remained in his superb indifference. Lisa addressed the Master: "I'm afraid I haven't paid; and I've had a perfectly wonderful dinner!" Simon Iff replied with weight: "My dear young lady, you are not a guest — you are a candidate." [89] Suddenly conscious of herself, she blanched, and became rigid in her chair. Simon Iff bade farewell to the three guests; Cyril and Sister Cybele conducted them to the boat, and bade them God-speed. The other brethren of the Order dispersed, one to one task, one to another. Presently Simon and Cyril, Cybele and Lisa were together alone. The old man led the way to a cell cunningly hidden in the wall. There they took seats. Lisa la Giuffria recognized that the critical moment of her life was come upon her. [90]