"No."
"Well--my word!"
There was a silence, save for faint humming from Albert. And then, just as Clara was mentioning her name, in rushed Hilda.
"What's the matter?" the impulsive Hilda demanded bluntly.
This gambit did not please Edwin, whose instinct was always to pretend that nothing was the matter. He would have maintained as long as anybody that the call was a chance call.
After a few vague exchanges, Clara coughed and said:
"It's really about your George and our Bert.... Haven't you heard? ... Hasn't George said anything?"
"No.... What?"
Clara looked at her husband expectantly, and Albert took the grand male rôle.
"I gather they had a fight yesterday at school," said he.