"No lies! I'm off them! How much have you got in the house?"
"I--I--I might----" Her voice failed her; there was a hiatus in her sentence. "A hundred pounds."
"Then you'll give me a hundred pounds within half-an-hour after lunch, and you'll send another four hundred to an address I'll give you within four-and-twenty hours, or I promise you that, in less than an hour after, the man you've bought shall kick you out of this house into a policeman's arms."
Before he could speak again, or she either, the door opened to admit the diminutive maid; how she managed to open the door, as she apparently had done, was a mystery, since she was carrying a tray which was nearly as big as herself. And Mr. Nash presently appearing, the three sat down to lunch.
CHAPTER XXVIII
[TO BE--OR NOT TO BE--POSTPONED]
Daisy Ross was annoyed, almost indignant, and with reason. As she said to Mr. Clifford--
"It's really too ridiculous! One's wedding day is an occasion of some importance, even to a man." Mr. Clifford admitted that it was. "While to a woman it involves a frightful strain." Mr. Clifford again agreed. "Very well, then; a little consideration surely should be shown; Mr. Oldfield's conduct is absurd."
"He certainly is placing me in a very awkward position."
"I should think he was; considering that the bridesmaids' dresses are practically finished, and that two of them have to go away on the day after the one we fixed, how are we going to postpone the wedding?"