'So you shall take the edge off my appetite for exercise.'
'Yes, Uncle Rudolph.'
'Then perhaps this afternoon one or other of these ladies—' I noted his caution in not suggesting both.
'Oh, delightful,' Mrs. Barnes hastened to assure him. 'We shall be only too pleased to accompany you. We are great walkers. We think a very great deal of the benefits to be derived from regular exercise. Our father brought us up to a keen appreciation of its necessity. If it were not that we so strongly feel that the greater part of each day should be employed in some useful pursuit, we would spend it, I believe, almost altogether in outdoor exercise.'
'Why not go with my uncle this morning, then?' I asked, catching at a straw. 'I've got to order dinner—'
'Oh no, no—not on any account. The Dean's wishes—'
But who should pass through the hall at that moment, making for the small room where I settle my household affairs, his arms full of the monthly books, but Antoine. It is the first of October. Pay day. I had forgotten. And for this one morning, at least, I knew that I was saved.
'Look,' I said to Mrs. Barnes, nodding in the direction of Antoine and his burden.
I felt certain she would have all the appreciation of the solemnity, the undeferability, of settling up that is characteristic of the virtuous poor; she would understand that even the wishes of deans must come second to this holy household rite.
'Oh, how unfortunate!' she exclaimed. 'Just this day of all days—your uncle's first day.'