"There! and it's a beautiful fire for toast. None of the munition girls are coming in for tea, are they?"
"Hope not," said Miss Henderson briefly. "I ought to be at the office now. I said I'd be back at five, but I shouldn't have had the afternoon off at all if Miss Vivian had been there."
Miss Delmege drew herself up. "Miss Vivian never refuses a reasonable amount of leave, that I'm aware of," she said stiffly.
"Oh, I mean we're slacker without her. There's less to do, that's all."
"Well, Grace Jones will be back presently, and I suppose she'll have work for all of us, as usual. I wonder how Miss Vivian is," said Mrs. Potter.
"And her father."
"Grace will be able to tell us," said Miss Delmege, not without a tinge of acrimony in her voice. "It does seem so quaint, her going to and from Plessing in Miss Vivian's car, like this, every day. It somehow makes me howl with laughter."
She gave a faint, embittered snigger, and Miss Henderson and Mrs. Potter exchanged glances.
"I hear the car now," said Mrs. Bullivant. "She'll be cold. I'll get another cup, and give her some tea before she goes over to the office. I do hope she's got Miss Vivian's authority for me to find a new servant."
They heard her outside in the hall, making inquiry, and Grace's voice answering in tones of congratulation.