"Can't say I did," I returned. "But I am delighted to hear it."
"Why are you delighted to hear it?" she asked, making me feel more than ever like an escaped lunatic.
"This is the home of my ancestors," I said, "and it makes me glad to think they amount to something—own real estate—and keep their venerable heads above water."
"So this is the home of your ancestors," she said.
"It's holy ground to me," I said.
"Fancy!" she exclaimed.
"At least I think it is," I went on, "though we haven't any proofs beyond the fact that Fyles has always been a family name with us back to the Colonial days. I'm named Fyles myself—Fyles ffrench— and we, like the Castle people—have managed to retain our little f throughout the ages."
She looked at me so incredulously that I handed her my card.
Mr. Fyles ffrench,
Knickerbocker Club.