The Inside Pocket

My father came to lunch at half past one.

He came in with his overcoat off and his sleeves still buttoned, and stood in the doorway of the servants’ hall and looked at the long table as if it were the best restaurant in Europe and he had been lucky to get in. Duncan pointed at a chair. My father took it. He was put between Rab and Mrs Imrie, and he asked Rab about the generator, and listened to all of the answer, which was long, and asked a second question at the end of it that showed he had listened. Mrs Imrie did not pass him the butter. He did not ask for it. Morven, from the far end, asked him whether he still took his tea without milk, and he said, after a moment, that he did, and that he was touched she remembered, and she said…