"Of course," said Ben.
"He didn't offer you his spaniel or anything like that?"
"Oh, Melanie, how horrid you are!" Ben exclaimed as she banged the door.
Melanie chuckled.
XXVI
The Wimbledon tournament now being over, in which Tommy Clinton had survived but two rounds, that young gentleman was only too free to devote his time to Ben, and it was therefore the more galling to him to find her so busy. He called so frequently that Mr. Harford was constrained to mention the fact.
"You will excuse me, Miss Staveley," he said one afternoon after Tommy had left, "but would you mind if we put a ladder against the wall for your friend to come and leave by?"
"Which friend?" Ben asked.