‘It’s the way you handle things. You go about them the way John would if he were here – with what I can only describe as a large-handed confidence. Neither of you have particularly large hands, but I always think of you as having them – massive hands with terribly capable fingers. You’re quite a lot like John.’

‘And quite a lot different.’

‘Yes, of course. You must be. Frank. Sitting here, I’ve been thinking. I met you first in this room, didn’t I? The day you came for tea. I can remember what I thought about you. I thought: “What a very uninteresting little boy – how did the citizens come to pick him up?”’

‘I can understand that.’

‘Can you? Yes, I suppose it takes a dedicated egotist to think of himself as innately interesting.’