"Why? Unless, indeed, you have not told me the truth."
"I have told you the truth."
"Then where's the harm?"
"For myself, none. On the boat it did not matter so much. It was a situation which neither of us could foresee nor prevent. I have told you that people here look askance at me because they know nothing about me, save that I came from the States. And they are wise. I should be a cad if I accepted your invitation to dinner."
"Then, I am not to see you again?"
The smile would have lured him across three continents. "To-morrow, I promise to call and have tea with you, much against my better judgment."
"Oh, if you don't want to come …"
"Don't want to come!"
Something in his eyes caused Elsa to speak hurriedly. "Good-by until to-morrow."
She gave him her hand for a moment, stepped into the carriage, which already held Martha and the luggage, and then drove off to the Strand Hotel.