Sybil was apparently in very good spirits.
“Do not be frightened, Joe dearest,” she said. “We will manage it very well. He is not hurt in the least.”
“Really, I do not believe he is–so very much, you know,” Joe answered. But she was thoughtful, and did not speak again for some time.
It was on the morning after this that Joe read the article on John’s speech, and met him by the Common. Ronald did not call during the day, and in the evening Joe went to her party as she had intended; but neither Sybil nor John Harrington were there. Sybil did not go to parties, and John probably had too much to do. But at supper Joe chanced to be standing near Mrs. Sam Wyndham.
“Oh, I so much wanted to see you, Miss Thorn,” said the latter. “I wanted to tell you how much we like your cousin, Mr. Surbiton. He came today, and I have asked him to dinner to-morrow.”
“Yes?” said Joe, turning a shade paler. “I am so glad you like him. He is a very nice boy.”
“He is perfectly lovely,” said Mrs. Sam, enthusiastically. “And he is so natural, you would not know he was English at all.”
“Really?” said Joe, raising her eyebrows a little, but laughing at the same time.
“Oh my dear,” said Mrs. Wyndham, “I always forget you are not one of us. Besides, you are, you see.”
Mrs. Wyndham rarely said a tactless thing, but this evening she was in such good spirits that she said what came uppermost in her thoughts. Joe was not offended; she was only bored.