"No, not even if you ask me," she answered, laughing.
She noticed then, for the first time, that he could look sulky like a small school-boy.
"Why, Paul," she said. "If you wanted to grow a beard I shouldn't like it, but I shouldn't dream of stopping you."
"That's quite different," he answered. "I should never dream of growing a beard. Grace won't like it if you look odd."
"Grace isn't my teacher," said Maggie with a sudden hot hostility that surprised herself.
She discovered, by the way, very quickly that the three ladies had no very warm feelings for Grace. They showed undisguised pleasure at the thought that Maggie would now be on various Committees instead of her sister-in-law.
"It will be your place, of course, as wife of the vicar," said Mrs. Constantine. "Hitherto Miss Trenchard—"
"Oh, but I couldn't be on a Committee," cried Maggie. "I've never been on one in my life. I should never know what to do."
"Never been on a Committee!" cried Miss Purves, quivering with interest. "Why, Mrs. Trenchard, where have you been all this time?"
"I'm only twenty," said Maggie. They certainly thought it strange of her to confess to her age like that. "At home father never had any Committees, he did it all himself, or rather didn't do it."