"Oh! I am sorry," she said, but almost immediately her eyes shone brightly again. "It can't be very serious, though, because he's sure to have some perfectly satisfactory explanation for whatever he has done, and as soon as you see him you'll find there's no bone to pick."
"You're a loyal little woman," said Sir Geoffrey, well pleased, "and I've no doubt you're right. What time is the immaculate hero to honour us by his reappearance?"
"About a quarter to one," Gwendolen replied.
"In time for luncheon," Sir Geoffrey remarked. "Whatever one may think about his other meritorious qualities, there can be no doubt about the excellence of Ralph's appetite."
"You're trying to draw me," said Gwendolen cheerfully; "but I won't be drawn. I like a man to have a good appetite, and, by the way, you're not a bad trencherman yourself."
Sir Geoffrey laughed.
"I've got some work to do this morning," he said as he got up. "You must kill the time somehow until Ralph returns, and after luncheon you will be able to pick water lilies and gaze into each other's eyes to any extent. Are you going to meet him at the station?"
"I thought of doing so," Gwendolen admitted.
"Did you really!" said Sir Geoffrey, with affected incredulity. "Well, I don't want to interfere with your plans, but seriously, Gwen, as soon as you've got over the shock—I mean the rapture—of seeing him again, will you tell him to come to me in the library?"
"Of course I will," said Gwendolen, "and seriously, too, dear uncle, I'm sure everything will be cleared up as soon as you see him."