“Shall I write them down for you, Fanny?” said Aunt Matty.
“No, thank you, Matty,” said Lady Rea, who was getting into a knot. “There, I shall know what that means.”
“Er-rum!” said Sir Hampton; “Mr Mervyn.”
“La! Hampy,” cried Lady Rea, looking up, “you haven’t said Mr Trevor.”
“Mister—er-rum—Mervyn!” exclaimed Sir Hampton, sharply.
“Oh, there, my dear, don’t fly at me like that,” cried Lady Rea. “M, e, r, v, i—”
“Y, Fanny, y,” said Aunt Matty, with a shudder.
“Oh yes, y, of course,” said Lady Rea, good-humouredly; “y, n, Mervyn. Next?”
The girls bent their heads—Tiny over her breakfast, Fin smoothing the rather tousled hair of her mother.
“Er-rum, I suppose I must ask this—er-rum—Trevor.”