"I never tempted maid or wife
Or suffragette in all my life——"
sang Ledyard, beating time on Van Alstyne, who silently scowled his displeasure.
Presently Ledyard selected a grape-fruit, with a sour smile at one of Desboro's cats which had confidently leaped into his lap.
"Is this a zoo den in the Bronx, or a breakfast room, Desboro? I only ask because I'm all over cats."
Bertie Barkley snapped his napkin at an intrusive yellow pup who was sniffing and wagging at his elbow.
Jacqueline comforted the retreating animal, bending over and crooning in his floppy ear:
"They gotta stop kickin' my dawg aroun'."
"What do you care what they do to Jim's live stock, Miss Nevers?" demanded Ledyard suspiciously.
She laughed, but to her annoyance a warmer colour brightened her cheeks.
"Heaven help us!" exclaimed Reggie. "Miss Nevers is blushing at the breakfast table. Gentlemen, are we done for without even suspecting it? And by that—that"—pointing a furious finger at Desboro—"that!"