It was hard work for the grown-ups to keep a straight face, but Dodo set the younger members the example of laughing outright. In a moment, the young folks were all enjoying the blunt repartee.
“Oh, Pa!” sighed Dodo, finally. “What would our life be without you to entertain us!”
“Miss Dodo is right, there, Mr. Alexander. You certainly are a valuable member to any party on a pleasure trip,” added Mr. Ashby. And Mrs. Alexander smirked and nodded her head approvingly, so that everyone breathed easier, knowing a catastrophe had been averted for the little man.
Sir James now turned the conversation into a different channel. As they enjoyed the excellent dinner, he told about the new car he had presented to his son Jimmy, on his twenty-first birthday, two weeks previous.
“Oh, have you a grown-up son?” asked Mrs. Alexander, eagerly.
“Yes indeed! And a very fine young man we think him, too,” returned Lady Osgood.
“He is not at home, is he?” asked Mrs. Alexander.
“He is dining with his latest love, this evening,” laughed Angela. “He has a new one every other week, but this one has lasted since Nancy refused him some time ago.”
“Refused him! Nancy Fabian refused Sir James’s son,” gasped the unbelieving hunter for a title.
The girls laughed, and Nancy shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. Mrs. Alexander stared from her to each one about the table, as if the truth of the statement would not sink into her mind.