"What if he's not asleep?"
"Tell him you're going to clean them. Tell him anything. And, Roger, don't let Maisie pull the ingénue stunt on you. I may be years older than she is, but Maisie's no child."
Well, with everyone gone and Roger hunting me some boots, I felt rather better. I went to the pantry and fixed some hot milk and carried it in to drink by the fire. Roger came down with the boots, and to save time he laced them on my feet while I sat back and sipped.
That, of course, in spite of what Bill pretends to think, is why Roger was on his knees before me when Peter walked in.
Oh, yes, Peter Arundel walked in! It just shows the sort of luck I played in that night. He walked in and slammed the door.
"Thank heaven!" he said, and stalked over to me and jerked the cup out of my hand. "You pair of idiots!" he fairly snarled. "What sort of an escapade is this anyhow?"
"It—it's a joke, Peter," I quavered. He stared at me in speechless scorn. "Positively it is a joke, Peter."
"I daresay," he said grimly. "Perhaps to-morrow I may see it that way. The question is, will Bill think it's a joke?"
He looked round, and luckily for me he saw all the girls' wraps lying about.
"If the family's here, Clara," he said in a milder voice, "I—I may be doing you an injustice."