There was no possible doubt that she meant by this speech to deliver a challenge, and Kate’s look, at once imploring and sorrowful, appealed to her for mercy.
‘No, thank you,’ said Miss Betty to the servant who presented a dish, ‘though, indeed, maybe I’m wrong, for I don’t know what’s coming.’
‘This is the menu,’ said Nina, handing a card to her.
‘The bill of fare, godmother,’ said Kate hastily.
‘Well, indeed, it’s a kindness to tell me, and if there is any more novelties to follow, perhaps you’ll be kind enough to inform me, for I never dined in the Greek fashion before.’
‘The Russian, I believe, madam, not the Greek,’ said Nina.
‘With all my heart, my dear. It’s about the same, for whatever may happen to Mathew Kearney or myself, I don’t suspect either of us will go to live at Moscow.’
‘You’ll not refuse a glass of port with your cheese?’ said Kearney.
‘Indeed I will, then, if there’s any beer in the house, though perhaps it’s too vulgar a liquor to ask for.’
While the beer was being brought, a solemn silence ensued, and a less comfortable party could not easily be imagined.