Sir Geoffrey Barnett gazed after the portly figure as it left the room and shook his head.
"You are to be congratulated, Henry. If you hadn't given me the word beforehand, I would never have guessed. Never. Not in a million years."
"So you feel he passes the test?" Henry Crane asked, smiling quietly.
"Absolutely," Sir Geoffrey nodded emphatically. "Indistinguishable from a real human being. What do you think, my dear?"
Sir Geoffrey turned to the attractive young woman by his side.
"I think Henry is very clever," she replied, smiling into his eyes.
"Quite so," Sir Geoffrey said, sipping his port. "I turned up here expecting to see some clanking metal man; gave me quite a start when that Jenkins opened the door, I can tell you. I still can hardly believe that he's not a real human being: 'May I have your hat, sir' and 'The master is in the living room, sir', just like my butler - only I'll bet you don't have to pay him the ruinous wages Brown demands."
Henry laughed. "Indeed not. In fact, robots get no wages at all, though I fancy that a real human would have worked out cheaper in the end than my robot. The development costs have been enormous, far more than I had budgeted for in the beginning."
"Ah, yes." Sir Geoffrey sipped at his port again. "Which I imagine is why you have invited me round this evening. You'll be wanting a bit of a loan to tide you over, eh?"
"I won't deny it," Henry said.
"Hmmmm." Sir Geoffrey sat silent for a moment. "The thing is, Henry, there's no doubt that Jenkins is a remarkable achievement but is he commercial? That's what the bank will want to know: is there sufficient demand for robot butlers? I mean, Jenkins is extremely lifelike, but there was a certain stiffness about him - a bit creaky in his gait, a bit slow in his replies, you know the sort of thing."
Henry shrugged. "I never claimed he was perfect and there were one or two little things that I think you missed because you were paying so much attention to young Sandy here."
"Hah! Jealousy!" Sir Geoffrey reached out and patted the young woman's hand. "My dear Henry, when the alternative is talking to you or some blasted robot, do you wonder that I fastened onto one of the most charming and beautiful women I have met this season. Intelligent, too. Anyone would think you were an economist, my dear, the way you talked about stocks and shares and market trends."
"Oh, I'm just interested in all sorts of things," Sandy smiled, the dimples appearing and disappearing in her cheeks.
She leaned slightly towards Sir Geoffrey and he felt the warmth of her body and sensed rather than smelled the scent of the perfume she was wearing. He shifted uneasily, aware of a stirring libido. It was extremely flattering to have a beautiful young woman hanging on your every word.
"Sandy," Henry said. "We're going to talk finance now, which will probably bore you silly. Before you leave, however, don't you think that you ought to pay our guest the ultimate compliment. He's been eyeing your decolletage all evening, so stand up and take your dress off and let him see the whole thing."
"I say! Steady on!"
Sir Geoffrey blushed bright red and then watched open mouthed as the young woman stood up and without demur reached behind her back. There was the sound of a zip sliding down and then her dress fell to the floor.
"I say! Really!"
Sir Geoffrey stared at the lithe young body in front of him, the perfect legs, the slim waist, the abundant figure. The girl's charms were enhanced rather than concealed by the lacy undergarments she was wearing.
"Turn around, Sandy," Henry commanded.
The young woman turned slowly and Sir Geoffrey's eyes widened.
"Ye gods! But ... what ... what ..."
Henry stepped over to Sandy and took her arm. He led her over closer to Sir Geoffrey.
"You can touch her," he said. "Oh, and by the way, Jenkins is entirely human. Any stiffness about him is solely due to his rheumatism."