Then Esther caught sight of Philip, and rose in pretty confusion to greet him.
"Ah, Mr. Tremain, you have stolen a march upon us, and invaded a woman's congress, and now, since you have been so very rash and bold——"
"'Oh, rash and bold!'" sang Dick, under her breath, with a comical Mikado gesture.
"You shall stay and be umpire. Perhaps, as you are a man," continued Esther, severely, "I may be able to drag a little bit of sense out of you."
"I doubt it," said Dick again, sotto voce.
"And so do I," echoed Philip aloud, at which there was a general laugh, and then a general and eagerly expressed desire that Mr. Tremain might be made as comfortable as possible, and at once admitted to the inner sanctorum of their circle.
Esther pulled forward the most seductive causeuse, Baby Leonard actually resigned a cushion for his head, and Dick Darling evolved the tiniest of cigarette cases and vesuvians from her knowing little coat pocket, and striking a light offered him a "real Turkish brew," assuring him that they were "quite the knob," and that she imported them herself, straight from the shores of the Bosphorus, a fact, which none of them being strong in geography, dared to contradict. Only Miss James refused to join in the general adulation; she sat quite still in her low wicker-chair, leaning her dark head against the gold-coloured cushions, and watching Philip, furtively, through her half-closed eyelids.
When the hubbub of welcome had somewhat subsided, and only a rippling laugh, or the frou-frou of the women's gowns, as their owners moved about listlessly, or settled themselves more comfortably in their luxurious chairs, gave evidence of the "concourse of tongues" that had been, Mr. Tremain ventured to ask, holding his unsmoked cigarette between his fingers, what had been the topic under discussion, when his untoward entrance silenced the music of their voices?
"Music of our voices, indeed!" mocked Dick, bringing her shoulders up to her little ears. "You flatter us, Mr. Tremain—at least you flatter me—the harmonies must have been strangely mixed in that galère; I never heard my shrill pipe called anything so fetching before. Speak for yourselves, girls, I am nothing if not honest."
"Don't be absurd, Dick," answered Miss James, pettishly; "what a miser you are to take everything to yourself in that fashion!"