The receiving agent had brought a pen for me. He put it beside the endorsement page before offering a chair.
I sat and moved the pen away from the paper. Valeria took the place opposite mine. She had arrived before me, though the reservation slip still lay on her side of the table. A clerk waited at the end with the dispatch book open beneath her hand.
Through the inner window, I could see shelves of ordinary packages awaiting collection. A man weighed a roll of material, checked the label, and put it back on the scale because his sleeve had been resting against it. Work continued around the small space where my name had become useful.
"There appears to be a concern about the authorization," the agent said.
"There is no authorization from me."
He looked at Valeria.
"Lord Cedric has declined the proposed appointment," she said. "We're here to cancel the provisional reservation."
