"You're the last in." He sat outside the window, and as she approached, he added, "And I hope you have had a happy time."
"Yes." She looked back into the room.
"Daniel wouldn't stay," Rupert went on, smoking his pipe placidly. "If it hadn't been for my good offices, my dear, he'd have hauled Zebedee off long ago. He suddenly thought of a plan for getting rid of Eliza. Why aren't you thanking me?"
"He wouldn't have gone."
"Oh, ho!"
"But they ought to get rid of Eliza. I've told Zebedee."
"Quite right," Rupert said solemnly. His dark eyes twinkled at the answering stars. "When I have lunch with Daniel, I'm afraid of being poisoned, though she rather likes me, and she's offensively ugly—ugh! Yet I like to think that even Eliza has had her little story. Are you listening, Helen? I'm being pastoral and kind. I'm going to tell you how Eliza fell in love with a travelling tinker."
"Is it true?"
"As true as anything else."
"Go on."