Child thanks Mr. Rolls for his kind invitation, and regrets that a previous engagement makes it impossible for her to accept.'"
"By Jove, that does sound formal enough! How do you know you'll have a previous engagement?"
"I'm perfectly certain I shall."
This was the real thing! There was no joke in the bottom of the medicine glass.
Peter's face grew red, like a scolded schoolboy's. Winifred (who was looking at Miss Carroll's trunk, but saw only Mr. Rolls) thought that he was going to speak out angrily, and perhaps give her a glimpse of his black heart. She hoped he would, for it would have been a relief; but he did not.
"Have I done anything to offend you?" he asked with a straight look; and though he spoke in a low tone, it was not a secret tone at all.
"No, certainly not," she answered, opening her eyes at him. "Why do you ask?"
"Because—you weren't like this on the ship."
"I've left my ship manners hanging up behind the door with my dryadhood. I shan't use them in New York, either!"
"Well—I'm sorry!"