“Father!” came from Dodo, in shocked tones.
“Don’t worry, Dodo. They won’t take the hint, but I shall have to, if your Ma sails off in company with that poor stick.”
Mrs. Alexander had reached the door by this time, and she merely turned to give her liege lord a scathing look. Then she vanished behind the portières. Algy toddled at her heels.
“Dear me!” cried Mrs. Courtney, in deep distress, “when Jack begged me to pretend he was a valet, I never dreamed the joke would assume these dreadful phases. Now it is time it was stopped, Mr. Dalken.”
“I told Jack this evening, when he explained what had been the impression given to Mrs. Alexander and her young friend, that I disapproved of the entire plot. Now it is up to him to get us out of the unpleasant scrape,” replied Mr. Dalken, seriously.
“What’s all this?” demanded Mr. Alexander, wonderingly.
Dodo now began to explain to her father how the mistake of Jack being a servant had started, and how it had been received by Algy. She spared her father the story of how her mother danced with Algy at the hop, in the hotel at Albuquerque, because he seemed annoyed enough at the fact that a member of his democratic family would spurn a young man for no other cause than that he was earning his living.
“I say, it serves that white-haired dude right—to let him show what’s in him, by the way he acts now. But Jack won’t have to play valet longer, with Algy out of the way,” explained Mr. Alexander.
Mrs. Courtney did not agree with the little man, and she lost no time in saying what she thought. “It is not fair to Mrs. Alexander to play the joke any longer. Dodo must appreciate that her mother is her natural guardian and as such must be honored and obeyed. We must try to explain away the differences between us all, and introduce harmony for the remainder of the tour.”
Mr. Dalken showed his appreciation of these words, by the glance of admiration he sent Mrs. Courtney; but the glance was not seen by Polly or Eleanor, because they were too concerned about their “fun.”