"I've come on business," said Ashley.
"Business?" she echoed, with an unpleasant reminiscence of Mr. Sidney Hazlewood and his views as to the nature of an agreement.
"I want you to help me to organise something."
"Oh, I couldn't. I hate all that sort of thing. It's not a bazaar, is it?"
"No. Perhaps we might call it a fête. It's a day in the country, Miss Pinsent."
"Oh, I know! Children! You mean those children?"
He leant back in his chair and looked at her before he replied. She seemed a little hurt and regretful, as though his visit were not proving so pleasant as she had expected; a visit should be paid, as virtue should be practised, for its own sake.
"No," he said. "Not those children. These children."
She took an instant to grasp the proposal; then her eyes signified her understanding of it; but she did not answer it.
"Why not?" he urged, leaning forward.