Lady Enid begin to appear a trifle thin.
“Why? How tiresome! I didn’t think you really meant it.”
“It is very, very tiresome.”
He spoke with marked uneasiness, and remained standing with the air of one in readiness for the punctual call of the hangman.
“What is it?” continued Lady Enid, with her usual inquisitiveness.
“I have, as I said, a—a small gathering at home at that hour,” said the Prophet, repeating his formula morosely.
“A gathering—what of?”
“People—persons, that is.”
“What—a party?”
“Two parties,” replied the Prophet, instinctively giving Mr. Sagittarius and Madame their undoubted due. “Two.”