“I’m so sorry.”
“You don’t know any German, then?”
“I’m so sorry,” said Jane.
“My dear girl, what did they teach you at that school of yours? By the way, where was it?”
“At Ilfracombe.”
“English education is a disgrace,” said Lady Heritage, and went back to her papers.
It was next day that she turned suddenly to Jane:
“By the way, you were at school at Ilfracombe—can you give me the name of a china shop there? I want some of that blue Devonshire pottery for a girls’ club I’m interested in.”
Jane had a moment of panic. Renata’s shoes had fitted her too easily. She had felt secure, and then to have her security shattered by a trifle like this!
“A china shop?” she said meditatively; then, after a pause, “It’s awfully stupid of me—I’m afraid I’ve forgotten the name.”