"Not going?"
Clodagh drew her sister closer.
"Now, darling, don't make a fuss! If you say one word of objection, my head will get ten times worse than it is. You are just to listen, and do as I tell you. You are to telephone to Mrs. Estcoit and explain what has happened. She will do the chaperoning instead of me."
"But Walter——"
"Walter is to go with you. You are to be as nice to him as you possibly can be. Everything is to be exactly as we arranged—exactly as we arranged."
She raised herself on her elbow to enforce the words.
"And what about Lord Deerehurst?"
Clodagh did not answer immediately; then, sinking back among her pillows, she spoke in a somewhat hurried voice.
"That will be all right; I—I took your advice and sent him two messages, one to Carlton House Terrace and one to his club. He won't be at the theatre."
"But if he doesn't get the message? If he comes all the same?"