Simon did stay till half-past eleven. He left precisely when the clock, now convalescent, struck the half-hour. At the door Mary said to him:
"I won't have any secrets from you, Simon. It was I who stopped that clock. I stopped it while they were bending down looking for music. I wanted to be as sure as I could of a good excuse for me suggesting that he ought to take her home. I just wanted to get him out of the house."
"But why?" asked Simon.
"I must leave that to you to guess," said Mary, with a hint of tartness, but smiling.
Loggerheads and Richard Morfe met in Trafalgar Road.
"Good-night, Morfe."
"'night, Loggerheads!"
And each passed on, without having stopped.
You can picture for yourself the breakfast of the brother and sister.