Hilda laughed. Antony, with his characteristic maladroitness, had somehow made things worse, and Andrew's face hardened. His sisters were generally candid with him, but they had gone too far. With a thoughtlessness he sometimes showed, he had told them nothing about his acquaintance with Clare Olcott's husband.
"You're not much of an ally," he said with a dry smile. "Anyway, as there's no reason why I shouldn't go to The Firs, I'm not likely to be deterred. I may as well mention that I met Ethel Hillyard and begged her to call."
"On Mrs. Olcott?" Florence cried. "What did she say?"
"She promised."
The astonishment of the others was obvious, but Hilda was the only one who ventured to express it.
"Andrew, you're a wonder! You haven't the least idea of scheming, and you'd spoil the best plot you took a hand in, and yet you have a funny, blundering way of getting hard things done."
"You have hinted that I was a bit of a fool," said Andrew; "but I don't see why this should be hard."
As an explanation was undesirable, Hilda let his remark pass and addressed the others.
"He has beaten us and we may as well give in gracefully. If Ethel goes, all the people who count will follow her."
"There's more in Andrew than his friends suspect," Wannop observed, laughing.