“Georgie, you must be very dull this morning,” she said. “What I make of it is that our poor Daisy lit the oil stoves again. And then probably in her fumbling way, she spilt some oil. Something of the sort, anyhow. In fact, I’m afraid Daisy burned down the Museum.”
There was a terrible pause.
“What are we to do?” said Georgie.
Lucia laughed.
“Do?” she said. “Nothing, except never know anything about it. We know quite well that poor Daisy didn’t do it on purpose. She hasn’t got the pluck or the invention to be an incendiary. It was only her muddling, meddling ways.”
“But the insurance money?” said Georgie.
“What about it? The fire was an accident, whether Daisy confessed what she had done or not. Poor Daisy! We must be nice to Daisy, Georgie. Her golf, her Abfou! Such disappointments. I think I will ask her to be my partner in the foursome for the Lucas Cup. And perhaps if there was another place on the golf committee, we might propose her for it.”
Lucia sighed, smiling wistfully.
“A pity she is not a little wiser,” she said.
Lucia sat looking wistful for a moment. Then to Georgie’s immense surprise she burst out into peals of laughter.