"You didn't mention any name. I mean Rooke if it was Rooke."
This time we had to wait a long time for an answer, but at any rate it cleared the air when it did come.
"It was Rooke. I don't remember very clearly exactly what I did say, but I meant Rooke," he admitted.
"You say he's taken Mrs. Cunningham home. He's coming back, I suppose?"
With remarkable grimness Philip replied, "You bet he is."
"You mean you told him to?"
"Yes, and I told him to be pretty quick unless he wanted to drive me crazy. I said I'd give him time for dinner at the Parrakeet, though. I was waiting for him when you came in."
"Then—well, to put it plainly, do you want us to clear off?"
"No—at any rate wait a bit," he answered irresolutely. "I don't suppose he'll be long now."
I don't know how much longer we should have continued to spar like this had not Hubbard suddenly put a question. He had evidently been thinking it over for some time, and he took care, with a preliminary "I say" and a pause, that he had Esdaile's attention before putting it.