"Who invited you to the Mayor's ball?" demanded Mr. Duncalf like thunder.
Yes, there it was! And a very difficult question!
"I did, sir," he blundered out. Transparent veracity! He simply could not think of a lie.
"Why?"
"I thought you 'd perhaps forgotten to put my name down on the list of invitations, sir."
"Oh!" This, grimly. "And I suppose you thought I 'd also forgotten to put down that tailor chap, Sillitoe?"
So it was all out! Sillitoe must have been chattering. Denry remembered that the classic established tailor of the town, Hatterton, whose trade Sillitoe was filching, was a particular friend of Mr. Duncalf's. He saw the whole thing.
"Well?" persisted Mr. Duncalf, after a judicious silence from Denry.
Denry, sheltered in the castle of his silence, was not to be tempted out.
"I suppose you rather fancy yourself, dancing with your betters?" growled Mr. Duncalf, menacingly.