"Yes—and——"
Peggy pressed home her questions. She would not understand. "What else?" she said.
"We all stayed the night at this hotel," Lord Ellerdine remarked.
"Did we?" Peggy asked.
"Yes," he said—"no! Oh! But it is best to be prepared."
"I see," Peggy said at last. "What a dull creature I am! Dear me! how stupid I didn't see it before! You have all made it up to put me right. You and Alice didn't go to Switzerland—you came on to Paris. You and Alice didn't get to Chalons and come on here by the slow train—you stayed here all night. I see. Now, that's so kind and thoughtful of you all! But for whom is this delightful story?"
"Dicky's scruples," Collingwood said hurriedly.
"I see. Dicky wanted it, did he?" Peggy replied. "Well, Dicky, I hope your moral sensibilities are quite satisfied. We all got on the wrong train and we all stayed the night at this hotel."
"Quite so," Ellerdine said quickly; "just a short, straight, simple tale, ready for any emergency."
"And what emergency do you expect?"