"I'll take you to the door, at any rate."
He took her to the door, and the outside of the basket-maker's premises made him curious to see the inside, and he begged to be allowed to escort her upstairs. "If only to see that you are not robbed and murdered," he said.
"No fear of that," she returned, laughing. "You go and amuse yourself at the club. This is a ladies' place."
"Men prohibited?"
"Not prohibited, but they don't want them."
"All right. I'll leave the cab for you."
He went to his club, and she to her tea and scones (the room was satisfactorily full, and Jenny too busy to be talked to); and they met again at Toorak in time to entertain Maude for half an hour before she had to dress.
Next day Maude was determined to have her stepson for herself—especially as there was a dark rumour that he was going to desert her the day after for the superior attractions of Jarvis and his bachelor abode; and Anthony was quite willing to gratify her. Recognising that she would be de trop, Mary Oxenham chose to stay at home and amuse the children; and he and his pretty stepmother (seven years his junior) drove away after luncheon for the ostensible purpose of paying calls together.
They paid two calls, and then, being in East Melbourne, Maude proposed that they should go and have some tea.
"What!" exclaimed Tony. "Haven't you had enough tea for one afternoon?"