“Glad to see you, old fellow (fumbling at the night latch) at least I will be as soon as I get this measly door open”, and he fairly beamed at the prospect of company to dinner.
Mr. Brown’s face and attitude would have been a study for an artist when the door finally opened--and instead of Ed Nash, he saw an elegantly dressed young lady whom he did not know, but who smiled brightly, and said:
“Cousin George, I believe?”
No reply. Mr. Brown might have been petrified, for all the emotion he betrayed. He was dazed. After waiting two or three seconds the brilliant creature laughed outright, and asked:
“Didn’t Maria get my telegram? I don’t believe you were expecting me.”
Then he gasped, “Maria is out in the country. I thought it was Ed Nash.”
She laughed again, and that laugh reassured him, and as she said: “My name is Edna, but I was never before saluted as ‘old fellow’”, he opened the door wide and said:
“Come in and stay for dinner. I am here alone just now, but Ed is coming.”
Miss Russell hesitated but for a moment. She was only to be in the city between trains, and had telegraphed Maria that she would call--but the messenger had found no one at home and was just too late to find Mr. Brown at his office. She must get to the 8:30 train and “Cousin” George must go with her. So she declared, while taking off hat and gloves, at the hatrack.
Here was a dilemma. Dinner must be hastened; he must leave her in the library to entertain herself while he again went below stairs to reduce chaos to a semblance of civilization. Just then the bell rang again. This time it was Ed, and Mr. Brown received him with visible embarrassment--but kept him in the hall while explaining the situation before taking him into the library to present to Miss Russell--who, even yet, did not know that the house was being run by a one-man-power, else she would have gone down stairs at once and relegated Mr. Brown to the office of entertainer while she officiated as Bridget.