“Shall I take you to your room, dear? Your boxes have arrived and you must be longing to have a bath and change. And it’s getting late. Pour o’clock. There is just an hour before—Jim comes!”
“Comes here?”
Dorothea nodded.
“He insisted. I tried to make it later, but it was no use. Five o’clock, not a moment later.”
Katrine rose hastily. Suppose he came earlier, and found her unprepared! She was eager to reach the stronghold of her own room.
“I think,” she announced haughtily, “it’s presumptuous! One wants a little time... Send word that I’m tired, and prefer to wait until to-morrow.”
Dorothea held out her hands with a gesture which signified that she might send as many messages as she pleased, but the result would be the same.
“I’ll stay in my room!” Katrine threatened.
Dorothea laughed.
“It would make no difference! He’d interview you through the door, he’d say all that he had to say, only—we should all overhear! It’s no use, Kitty, you might as well give in. When Jim Blair makes up his mind it’s useless to fight. He carries it through.”