“How do you do, Aunt Briscoe?” I said, hiding my surprise. “We are very glad to see you here.” And this was true, yet I could have wished for previous warning. An uneasy recollection of our larder came over me.
“I hope you are,” she said grimly. “Where’s Robert?”
“He will not be home for another hour. We have tea soon after six.”
“That will do for me,” Aunt Briscoe said. “I have ordered the fly to come again at seven. I don’t approve of late hours.”
“You will take off your bonnet,” I said.
“No, thanks. I’ve got no cap here. Where are all the children?” She was standing in the passage still, looking about her with sharp eyes.
“Jack is at his office.”
“Not turned off yet?”
“No; he has done much better lately, given satisfaction.”
“I always said he could if he chose,” said Aunt Briscoe.