"Perhaps I have," with a humorous gleam.
"Umh!... I'd be very sorry for the subjects; they would be ruled with a rod of iron."
He pulled a chair forward, a large cosy one, such as he knew her soul loved, and she sank down into it. He still stood upright, watching her with kindly eyes.
"Well!..." he began. "You sent me a very curt summons."
Diana coloured a little, not quite clear where to begin.
"Won't you sit down? You seem so far away up there. I feel a little lost somehow, you are so ... so ... Perhaps if you were to growl I should feel more at home with you!..." she finished.
He smiled and took the chair beside her.
"I never did growl really. It was all your imagination."
"O, was it?..." emphatically. "Why, thunder in the distance was dulcet music beside it!..."
"Well," he said again, "about that summons?..."