"Well, if we're not permitted to go ashore here, do you think we can get permission at Newport?" she asked.
"Confound it! I didn't say you couldn't go ashore. You can go ashore any time you want. You can——"
Bill excused himself abruptly and walked forward. Mary beamed at his retreating back and poured another cup of coffee.
"He was going to say I could go to hell," she murmured. "Oh, lovely!"
Aunt Caroline had breakfast served in her stateroom and then sent for Mary. After a satisfactory conference, she dismissed Mary and sent for Bill.
"How soon are you going ashore, William?" she asked.
"I didn't know I was going."
"Why, of course. You have friends here. You can't leave Larchmont without calling. That's what we came for."
"Who are the friends, I'd like to know."
"Well, in the first place, I believe Bishop Wrangell is staying here—with the Williamsons. It will give you an opportunity to meet them; they're very desirable. And then the Kingsleys have a cottage here, or did, at any rate. You remember the little Kingsley girl at the party—the one in blue?"