"I am Mr. Van Pycke's son," said Bosworth, cautiously inclining his head.
The young lady smiled suddenly. "You poor men!" she cried. "Agrippa! Come here, sir!"
Agrippa's dominion was ended. He turned to her, a very humble dog. She leaned over and boxed his ears with a soft, white hand—but so gently that Agrippa would have smiled if he knew how. He did wag his stubby tail by way of acknowledgment. "Please don't stir," she said to the three appalled observers. "I'll take him away. He's a very naughty dog."
She departed, Agrippa's collar in her fingers. A moment later she returned. The three men were standing, but, by curious coincidence, each had taken a position behind the chair he had occupied.
"Mrs. Scoville begs me to say that she is sorry to have kept you waiting so long, and that she will be down as soon as she has changed her gown."
"Her gown?" murmured Bosworth.
"Changing it for what?" muttered Mr. Van Pycke, dreadfully bewildered.
"For a street gown. She's going out, you see."
Mr. Doxey coughed by way of attracting attention. "Do you know these gents, Miss Downing?"
The smile deepened in her face. Bosworth never had seen a smile so ravishing. He smiled in sympathy, without knowing just why he did it.