"Not at all! I can't be held responsible for all the black sheep in his family."
"What a pity it was that your parents, also, were ill and couldn't come! How's your dear father?"
"Thanks. He's quite well again. How kind of you to think of everybody!"
"Well, one shouldn't think of oneself only! Is he delicate, the old—what is his title?"
"Captain, if you like."
"Captain! I was under the impression that my husband said he was—one of the crew of the flagship, but very likely it's the same thing. But where were the girls?"
That's for the Brussels carpet, mentally reflected the controller's wife.
"They are so full of whims, they can never be depended on."
Mrs. Falk turned over the leaves in her photograph album; the binding cracked; she was in a towering rage.
"I say, dear, who was the disagreeable individual who read the verses on the night of your party?"