"Never mind who he is, I want him to come."
"I will ask him if he is in town; but I can't come, I am altogether too busy."
"Nonsense, Everard, you only say that to vex me. I mean you to come, that's pos'. Isn't he provoking, Isabel?"
"Perhaps his business is as important as it was that Christmas," said Isabel, quietly.
Everard looked up quickly from his book, but Isabel was fully employed with her tatting.
"What do you know about my engagements at that time?" he asked.
"Oh, nothing; only, perhaps, you can as easily put aside your work as you did then."
"How do you know that it was so easy?" he inquired.
"Only from appearances."
"Appearances are often deceitful."