Geoffrey Alison instinctively took a step backward.
The owner of the house, however, merely looked at him as though he had been dirt.
"Oh, it's you, Alison," he said, not holding out his hand; and then with an obvious sneer, "As busy as ever?" With which he put his head back and promptly shut the door. He might have acted thus if it had been the plumber—and he had wanted to change plumbers.
The other, naturally upset, poured this out instantly to Helena.
"Just like him, isn't it?" he said.
Helena would not be drawn to disloyalty, even about trifles.
"Hugh's such a worker," she said. "He thinks of nothing but his writing."
The artist, who was never busy, snorted. "He certainly does not think much about his wife," he answered. Extraordinary how a hog like Brett could keep the respect of a dear little girl like this!
"Well, what news have you got?" she enquired, to change the subject.
That reminded him. That scene with the great beast Brett had quite thrown the good news out of his head; but now, remembering, he won back his complacency.