"You told me you would be quite alone," she said to Elma.
"Oh, you don't mind about Cuthbert, do you?" asked Elma anxiously. "Besides, Cuthbert didn't know you were coming."
"I did," said Cuthbert shortly.
Adelaide Maud had risen a little, and at this she sat down in a very straight manner, with her head slightly raised. She and Elma were on a couch near a tea-table. Cuthbert took an easy chair opposite. Then Adelaide Maud began to laugh. She laughed with a ringing bright laugh that was very amusing to Elma, but Cuthbert remained quite unmoved.
Adelaide Maud looked at him.
"Oh, please laugh a little," she said humbly.
Cuthbert did not take his eyes away from her. He simply looked and said nothing.
"How are the invitations going on?" he asked Elma as though apparently proving that Adelaide Maud did not exist.
Elma clasped her hands.
"Beautifully. I've been allowed to ask all my 'particulars.'"