A Halo Effect

Hee hee! laughed The Velodrone. Good old Gaius. This is very funny.

I thought you'd like it, said Le Bon David. But I bet Margaret won't.

As luck would have it Margaret came over, with a handful of interesting sea sponges.

Look at these, she said. All different colours. Aren't they glorious!

Very nice, said The VeloDrone. But may I ask why you used the word glorious? They are not glorious. Do they exhibit a halo effect, for instance? No, they don't.

What's wrong with you? said Margaret. I thought I heard you both laughing just a minute ago.

We were laughing, said Le Bon David. We were in a philosophical mood.

And you were laughing? said Margaret, disbelievingly. What philosophical thought could possibly have made you laugh?

We were wondering, said The Velodrone, thinking fast, whether if one waited long enough annoyances would disappear.

Is that philosophy? asked Margaret suspiciously. It sounds more like something Gaius might come out with.

Margaret, said Le Bon David, you appear to have rumbled us.

Rumbled you? said Margaret. What do you mean? And what's that you've got there? Oh, it's Gaius's notebook! Have you read our article?

You helped him write it? asked The VeloDrone, impressed.

Rather more than that, said Margaret, but I don't like to blow my own trumpet.

Well, I never, said Le Bon David. I thought he'd written it all himself. I must say you are quite a woman, Margaret.

Margaret turned pinker than the most glorious of her sponges.

Why, thank you David, she said. It's nice to be appreciated.

She stood up, and started walking back to join Marie and Belle et Bonne.

Now we're in a pickle, said Le Bon David. She doesn't know!

Margaret stopped suddenly, and came back.

May I see that notebook, David? she asked serenely.