"He doesn't look very hospitable, does he?"
"Maybe," said another, "he doesn't feel that way."
David jumped to his feet and peered over the easel at Jonathan and
Esther.
"But he does, indeed. Visitors," he announced, "are requested to stay on this side of the door."
They stepped within. "Since you wouldn't come down," Jonathan explained, "of course we had to come up. Though Miss Summers almost lost her courage on the way. She said we were taking a liberty."
"But I didn't," she protested in some confusion. "I only said—"
"That you don't seem to care much for company," Jonathan completed her sentence. "She was mistaken, I trust?"
"Woefully," smiled David. "And I've had company all evening. They played and sang and helped me to work." He waved a hand toward the easel.
"Do you think," Jonathan inquired of Esther, "we may take that as a compliment?"
"I'm not quite sure," she answered.