"Good! Now, six, five, four, seven, two, six."
"Er—six, five, four, seven, two, six," she repeated, I thought, with some hesitation.
"Again—two, nine, six, four, three, seven, five," he shot out.
"Two, nine, six"—she hesitated—"four, three, seven, five."
"Try again—four, seven, two, nine, three, eight, two, five," he read.
"Four—two—seven," she returned, slowly, then stopped, "three—nine—what was the next one?—er—two—two—"
It was evident that she was hopelessly muddled. It was not because she had not tried, for the diversion had come as a welcome relief from the quizzing on delicate subjects and she had seized upon it. She had reached the limit.
Kennedy had smiled and was about to go on, although it was evident that it was useless, when there was a noise in the hall, as though some one had been admitted by the maid and had entered. It seemed to be a man's voice that I heard and I wondered whether it was Doctor Lathrop himself.
A moment later the door opened and disclosed, to my astonishment, not Lathrop, but Shattuck.
If he was embarrassed at finding us there he did not betray it in the least. Quite the contrary. He greeted Vina Lathrop cordially, then turned to us.