"Wel-l!" she exclaimed, as soon as he was near enough to hear—"of all things—!"
"Right you are!" he affirmed gravely, tossing his handbag into the car and following it. "Kick along, Davy," he added, with a nod to the chauffeur; and gracefully sank back upon the seat beside Helena.
Purring, the car began to grope its way through the dust-fog. Matthias turned twinkling eyes to his aunt. She compressed her lips and shook her head helplessly.
"Words inadequate, aunty?"
"Quite!" she said. "What were you doing on that train, to come so near forgetting the station?"
"Thinking," he explained: "wrapped in profound and exhaustive meditation. I say, how stunning you look!"
She gave him up; or one inferred as much from her gesture.
"You're impossible," she said in a tragic voice. "Thinking!... While I had to wait there and be ogled by all those odious men!"
"You must've been ready to sink through the ground."
She eyed him stonily. "You didn't care—!"