No answer.
“Leila,” more emphatically, “Leila!”
“Well?” and Leila’s lovely dreamy dark eyes lifted themselves for a moment.
“Didn’t you hear? You might as well be stone deaf,” Chrissie went on, growing angry. “Miss Earle has sent up to say she’s been waiting hours.”
“Then she told a great story,” replied Leila lazily. “I’ll come in a moment, but I must just stop at a good place.”
“And I must match these colours for the new drawing-room furniture covers,” said Chrissie. “I’ll never get them so nice again, if Fanny muddles them all up in the scrap drawer.”
Just then her glance fell on Jasper, who had left off playing and was standing beside her.
“I’ll ’range them for you, if you like,” he was beginning, but Christabel shook her head.
“You couldn’t,” she said. “It’s something awfully partickler. But I’ll tell you what, Japs—you run down to Miss Earle and say you’ll have your reading first this morning. Tell her I’m having a spring cleaning and all sorts of fusses. You can say I didn’t know it was so late, and we’ll be down before you’ve half finished.”
Jasper moved towards the door, but less readily than usual.