“Me?—Oh, but, Pummy, I can’t. Didn’t I write and tell you? Thought I had—at least, I didn’t think I had, exactly, but I meant to.”
“Tell me what?” Eliphalet looked genuinely startled.
“Oh, Daddy fatherums, don’t—don’t look so serious, please. It’s—I—— Well, I met a young man—a boy—a gentleman—oh, yes, always the perfect gentleman. No, but he’s a dear, really; I mean, he’s awfully nice and very clever, and—— Well, I didn’t want to be a drag on you, and you never actually told me you were going to open, so I didn’t see how I could very well refuse—could I?”
Eliphalet stopped dead, with:
“Good God, what are you talking about?”
“Yes. I knew you’d disapprove, and I knew if I waited to ask you, you wouldn’t let me; so I took my courage in both hands, shut my eyes, and said, ‘Yes.’ But it’s only for six weeks.”
From his tail-pocket Eliphalet drew a large silk handkerchief and mopped his brow.
“What is only for six weeks?” he managed to ask.
“I told you—this Cinema engagement, of course.”
“Thank you,” he said faintly. “If you don’t mind, we will go into this dairy and take a glass of milk.”