“Her Ladyship thought——”
“You remember Bowles, Bert? He was with me that day I came.”
“Oh, yes,” replied Bert, shaking hands rather, as it seemed, to Bowles’ horror. “How are you, Bowles?”
“Nicely, thank you, sir. I——”
“But, I say, what’s the idea?” demanded Hugh. “Is the mater here?”
“No, sir. Her Ladyship—Ouch! Beg pardon, sir!” Bowles discreetly stepped out of the reach of Hugh’s toes. “I mean to say, Master Hugh, that your mother was worried when she received your——”
“Shut up, Bowles! Don’t be a babbling ass! You mean my mother sent you up to see what was going on, eh? Well, that’s all right, only it wasn’t necessary, you know. I’m quite O. K. Glad to see you, though. You might sit down and stop fidgeting. When did you get here?”
“About a quarter to three, sir. There was—h’m—a misunderstanding about trains, sir, and I was obliged to engage a fly at the Junction.”
Hugh chuckled. “You’d get the trains balled up if it was anyway possible, wouldn’t you, Bowles? Well, never mind that now you’re here. You’re going to stick around until tomorrow, I take it. I say, Bert, can he get any supper here?”