Julian wondered if it was altogether undesignedly that Miss Sandiloe instantly exclaimed:
"Are you going to recite to us, dear?"
"Yes, I am," said Miss Easter in loud, confident tones. "I always recite when I go out to tea."
The relentless inevitability of the proposed entertainment deprived even Miss Sandiloe of further utterance for the moment.
"You will not be asked again if you give yourself such a bad character," said Mark in a rather hopeless voice.
"Oh, yes, I shall. Lady Rossiter always likes me and Peekaboo to come; she said so! We can come whenever we like."
Sir Julian's regard for Mark Easter alone prevented him from disclaiming aloud any share in the unlimited hospitality so rashly proclaimed by his wife in the days of Ruthie's and Ambrose's comparatively innocuous babyhood, and so unscrupulously worked to death by them ever since.
"Is Peekaboo a pet?" asked Miss Farmer kindly.
"Not always," Ruthie replied literally. "Sometimes he's a very naughty boy. Sarah has locked him up in the boot-cupboard this afternoon, because——"
"Hush, hush," hastily said Mark, "we don't tell tales out of school."