"Dr. and Mrs. Lister brought me home."
"Where was Richard?"
"He had an engagement."
"An engagement! Do you mean to say that he wasn't at supper?"
"Yes, he was at supper."
"An engagement with whom?"
"I didn't ask. Perhaps—" Cora's voice failed her for a second. With whom in Waltonville could Richard have an engagement when he might have been with her?—"perhaps with Miss Thomasina."
"An engagement with Thomasina! When you were there to supper!" Mrs. Scott's ferret eyes seemed to pierce to Cora's soul. "When did this engagement begin?"
"About an hour ago."