"Oh, no!" said Captain Lancaster, with rather grim pleasantry.
And then she touched him on the arm and said, significantly:
"There's some one here I want very much for you to meet, Clive."
"Ah, is there?" he said, shrinking a little from the look and the tone. "I thought you wanted me to meet them all."
"I do; but there is one in particular. It is a lady, Clive," she said, giving him a significant smile that he thought hideous.
He tried gently to wrench himself away from her.
"Well, I must go and take my siesta and dress before I meet them," he said.
"Wait a minute, Clive. I must speak to you," she said, in a tone that savored of authority.
"Will not some other time do as well?" he inquired, glancing rather ungallantly at his watch.