"Grace—I want you to meet Andra, Andra Corby."
Grace looked past him for the first time, and saw the other woman. A tiny spasmodic reaction tightened her face and some of the color drained away. Then she said, with rigid composure, "Come in. Come in, won't you?" Unconsciously, she held the folds of her garment tightly at the throat with one hand, as if to make her covering more substantial, as she stepped aside to let them pass.
"Excuse me," she blurted suddenly, after shutting the door, and rushed into her bedroom. The music emanating from there cut off, abruptly, and then Grace reappeared in the doorway, her lips curled in a smile that would not quite come off. "I thought—I thought you'd miss the lift," she said, in an obvious extemporization that was embarrassing to all three persons. "That's why I'm—not quite dressed, yet. I thought I'd be ready after one, when you—" Her eyes fell on the tray, with its solitary preparation for two, and her voice choked off in the middle of a syllable.
Then she took a breath, walked into the parlor, and sat down gracefully on the arm of the sofa. "Well," she said brightly, "now what'll we lie about?!"
"I'm so very sorry, Grace," Lloyd said contritely. "I ... I would've told you Andra was coming, if I'd known. We only decided after I'd hung up—"
Grace's eyebrows rose just a fraction. "Andra was at your home when I called?" She rose, suddenly. "I think I'd better get another glass from the kitchen. I have the feeling we're all of us going to need strength."
Lloyd and Andra looked at one another, then sat gloomily down in armchairs deliberately far apart, and waited for Grace's return. When she came back with the third glass, she was a bit more composed.
"Now," said Grace, after draining half her glass, "we can talk."
There was a silence, then Lloyd broke it, awkwardly, with, "You said—You wanted to see me here, right away."
"I called you about the Temple Service last night, Lloyd—I see by your face that you do know something about it. Good. Maybe you can tell me what—Don't look so shaken."