"Possibly; but maybe this will account for it," said Mrs. Upton, with a sigh of relief, which hardly seemed necessary under the circumstances, handing her husband a note.
"What's this?" asked Upton, scanning the address upon the envelope.
"A note—from Walter," Mrs. Upton replied. "Read it."
And Upton read as follows:
"SATURDAY MORNING, January —, 189-.
"MY DEAR MRS. UPTON,—
I am sorry to hear that Henry is called away, but there are compensations. If I cannot take luncheon with him, it will give me the greatest pleasure to listen to Calvé in your company. I may be a trifle late, but I shall most certainly avail myself of your kind thought of me.
"Yours faithfully,
"WALTER BLISS."
"What the deuce is this?" asked Upton. "I called away? Who said I was called away?"
"I did," said Mrs. Upton, pursing her lips to keep from indulging in a smile. "As soon as you left this morning I wrote Walter a note, telling him that you had been hurriedly called to Philadelphia on business, and that you'd asked me to let him know, not having time to do it yourself. And I closed by saying that we had two seats for 'Cavalleria,' and that, as my expected guest had disappointed me, I hoped he might come in if he felt like it during the afternoon and hear Calvé. That's his answer. I enclosed him the ticket."