'I thought,' said Miss Levering, with obvious misgiving, 'I thought I hadn't seen that affected-looking creature before.'
'Oh, she'll get over all that,' Ernestine whispered. 'You haven't much opinion of our crowds, but they can teach people a lot.'
'Teach them not to hold their heads like a broken lily?'
'Yes, knock all sorts of nonsense out and stiffen them up wonderfully.'
She found the scrap of paper, and shut the portfolio with a snap.
'Now!'
She stood up, took in the fact of the audience having increased and a policeman in the offing. She summoned her allies.
'It's nearly time for those Army and Navy workers to come out. The men will come first,' she said, 'and five minutes after, they let the women out. I'll begin, and then I think you'd better speak next,' she said, handing the die-away young woman her notes. 'These seem all right.'
'Oh, but, Miss Blunt,' she whispered, 'I'm so nervous. How am I ever to face all those men?'
'You'll find it quite easy when once you are started,' said Ernestine, in a quiet undertone.