“I was goaded into it by having had such an awful evening; felt I must do something outrageous.” Yes, but not that! I had had an awful evening too! And I hadn’t wanted to kiss anybody!
“Hadn’t time to think of anything else.”
Nonsense! A business man with his wits sharpened by daily interviews with other sharp-witted people for whose benefit he has to think out, even while he’s speaking, excuses, schemes, promises, goodness knows what! Oh, he’d have to say something more convincing than that to me!
Again I heard the whistle—a monotonous note for a blackbird’s! Then came a sharp tap at my opened, latticed, wistaria-garlanded casement. A pebble had been flung up against it.
This gave me quite a little jump; it brought back old days at home; when Sydney, staying in the house, had wanted to bring me out for a stroll before breakfast.
“Must be Theo,” I said aloud to myself. But something told me it wasn’t. I looked out. Yes. There on the gravel beneath, in a blue serge suit that seemed to make his sleek head shine quite golden in the morning sunshine, stood my employer, looking up.
Waiting for me to come out? Throwing stones up to catch my attention? Who taught him that?
“Good morning,” he said quietly. “Will you come down when you are ready?”
I nodded as ungraciously as I could, and drew back at once. I was quite ready, but I stopped dead-still by the wardrobe glass for a long moment, letting him wait. Then I turned to the door.