Pale and almost breathless, Kennedy went into the room.
“Good morning, Mr Kennedy.”
“Good morning, sir.”
He quite expected that Mr Grayson was about at once to address him on the subject of the paper, and, expecting this, totally forgot the purpose for which he had come. The tutor’s cold eye was upon him, and after a pause he said—
“Well, Mr Kennedy?”
“Well, sir?” he replied, with a start.
“Do you want anything?”
“Oh, I came for— Really, sir, I must beg your pardon, but I have forgotten what it was.”
“To look at an examination-paper,” were the words which, in his embarrassment, sprang to his lips, but he checked them just in time.
“Really, Mr Kennedy, you appear to be strangely absent this morning,” said Mr Grayson, in a tone the reverse of encouraging.