"Well!" Mrs. Hilliard managed to wheeze.
"Quiet, wart nozzle," A.P. said imperiously. "You have one of those voices that grate on my nerves."
Mrs. Hilliard whirled on Lester. "Lester Holmes! Is this some sort of joke?"
"If it is," A.P. said, "it's entirely on you, madam. How any woman could get that bowlegged in a mere sixty years is quite beyond me."
"Sixty years!" Mrs. Hilliard cried. "Bowlegged! Ginny Holmes...."
"Oh, shut up," A.P. said disgustedly. "Get out of here and let me read. I'm just at the part where she locks him into her bedroom and slips the key down the front of her dress."
"Well!" Mrs. Hilliard snorted. "I certainly will get out of here! And I'll never set foot in this house again."
"That'll be a great relief to the foundations," A.P. observed affably and returned to his book and bottle.
Ginny cast Lester a glance of pure fury, then turned away. "Mrs. Hilliard!" she cried. But already that outraged lady was down the hall and making rapid time toward the back door. Ginny ran after her. "Mrs. Hilliard!"
"Let her go!" Lester called out, following along the hall. "Forget it."