"Ronny Devereux was saying...." faltered Freddie.
"Damn Ronny Devereux!"
"Oh, absolutely! But...."
"Ronny Devereux! Who the devil is Ronny Devereux?"
"Why, old man, you've heard me speak of him, haven't you? Pal of mine. He came down to the station with Algy and me to meet your mater that morning."
"Oh, that fellow? And he has been saying something about...?"
"It isn't only Ronny, you know," Freddie hastened to interject. "Algy Martyn's talking about it, too. And lots of other fellows. And Algy's sister and a lot of peoples They're all saying...."
"What are they saying?"
Freddie bent down and chafed the back of his legs. He simply couldn't look at Derek while he had that Lady Underhill expression on the old map. Rummy he had never noticed before how extraordinarily like his mother he was. Freddie was conscious of a faint sense of grievance. He could not have put it into words, but what he felt was that a fellow had no right to go about looking like Lady Underhill.
"What are they saying?" repeated Derek grimly.