He sat on his favourite perch, the music-stool, and swung himself gently to and fro while he mildly upheld the virtues of the instrument she had slighted.
"I was asked to perform at a smoker the other night at the barracks," he said. "The men seemed to enjoy it immensely."
"Soldiers like anything noisy," said Beryl Denvers scathingly.
And then—because he had no retort ready—her heart smote her.
"But it was kind of you to go," she said. "I am sure you wouldn't enjoy it."
"Oh, but I did," he said, "on the whole. I should have liked it better if Fletcher hadn't been in the chair, and so, I think, would they. But it passed off very fairly well."
"Why do you object to Major Fletcher?" Beryl's tone was slightly aggressive.
Lord Ronald hesitated a little.
"He isn't much liked," he told her vaguely.
She frowned.