“I am sure she wouldn’t, so we needn’t go on talking about that. Won’t you let me ring and get you a cup of tea? They make quite good tea in this hotel!”
“It’s too early for tea, and I want to discuss this business of Lalage’s seriously. The position has become quite impossible.”
“It’s been that for more than a week—but it still goes on. That’s the worst of impossible positions. Nobody can ever stop them. Titherington said it was impossible the day before he got influenza. You don’t know Titherington, nor does the Canon. But if you did you’d realize that he’s not the kind of man to let an impossible position alone and yet he was baffled. I had letters yesterday morning from Vittie and O’Donoghue asking me to cooperate with them in suppressing Lalage They see that the position is impossible just as plainly as you do. But they can’t do anything. In fact they’ve gone to bed.”
“I’m not going to bed,” said Miss Pettigrew. “I’m going to bring Lalage home with me.”
“How?”
“I rather hoped,” said Miss Pettigrew, “that you might have some suggestion that would help us.”
“I made my only suggestion to Titherington a week ago and it didn’t come off. There’s no use my making it again!”
“What was it? Perhaps I could work it out.”
“It wasn’t much of a suggestion really. It was only Hilda’s mother.”
“I’ve wired to her and she’ll be here to-morrow. I’ve no doubt that she’ll carry off Hilda, but she has no authority over Lalage.”