Miss Briskett stood severely erect, considering the situation. Now that the great anxiety was removed, the former irritation revived.
“And pray, who are the Moffatts? I must know something more about them before I can give my consent to this visit!”
Cornelia handed a pile of cardboard boxes into Mary’s hands.
“Take that hat-box downstairs, and pack these on the tray. Don’t muss them about! Then you can come back to finish off.”
She waited until the door was safely closed, then faced her aunt across the bed. “I’m pleased to answer your questions as well as I know how. The Moffatts are—the Moffatts! I guess that’s about all their family history, so far as I’m concerned. They came over with me, and Mrs Moffatt was real kind looking after me when I first came on deck, and was feeling pretty cheap. We saw quite a good deal of each other after that, and she said she’d love to have me do the sights with her sometime. She was going straight through to Paris, to get fixed up with clothes. Now it seems she’s back in London. I gave her my address, and she wires me to come.”
“You spoke of ‘the Moffatts.’ Who are the other members of the party?”
“There’s a husband, of course, but he’s not much account, except to pay the bills. He must be pretty cashy, for she has everything she wants, but it gets on her nerves having him poking round all the while. That’s one reason why she wants me. I could always keep him quiet!”
The complacent gurgle, the jaunty tilt of the head were as fuel to the spinster’s indignation. She pressed her lips tightly together before putting the final question.
“And your father knows nothing—nothing whatever of these people?”
“Well, I guess I may have mentioned their names. He didn’t know anything about them before that.”