During the rest of the dinner Regina made a valiant effort to appear as thoroughly at ease as if the portly gentleman down below was no kith or kin of hers. When she had once pulled herself together and realized the worst, she became the life and soul of the table, and Regina, mind you, was a woman of intellect, a woman of wit, when it pleased her to exert herself in that respect. She did not again allude to the fact that her husband was dining under the same roof as herself, until they made a move, intending to go to the theatre. Then Maudie, who was not endowed with much tact, demurred at leaving without making their presence known to her father.
“I must go and speak to daddy,” she said.
“Nothing of the kind,” said Regina in a fierce whisper, “nothing of the kind; I absolutely forbid it. Harry, you will back me up in this?”
Her tone was one of anxious entreaty, and Harry Marksby, who had been rather a gay dog in his very young days, although always tempered with a large amount of common-sense which had saved him from getting into a hole, took in his mother-in-law’s meaning at a glance.
“No, you can’t go downstairs now, my dear,” he said, giving her a vigorous nudge with his elbow, and Maudie, without in the least understanding, took the hint and said no more. “We’ll meet you at the theatre,” he added.
So presently Regina found herself sitting in a hansom with Julia beside her.
“I say, mother,” said Julia, as the cab started from the doorway, “that was a little awkward, wasn’t it? And how silly of Maudie! I really thought she had more sense.”
“Not one word of this to your father,” said Mrs. Whittaker in the same tone of fierce repression. “You children are quite mistaken, I understand it perfectly. You will not speak to your father of our having seen him? He would not be able to explain the circumstances to you.”
“Oh, certainly, not if you don’t wish it, darling. You’d better tell Harry to give Maudie warning because she’s sure to blab it out. Who is she?”
“I don’t know what her name is,” said Regina; “she is a person your father has some business with—business connected with the firm,” she added, with a dexterity of explanation which astounded even herself. “I have known of her existence for some time; your father has been almost worried out of his life about it, and it would worry him much more if he thought you children misconstrued his actions.”