“Come in and apologise, and so will I,” she said heartily. “There!” She reached up––Esther was taller than she––and gave the younger girl a sounding kiss. “There! I don’t often kiss people, so you can consider yourself flattered.” She dragged forward a chair and pushed Esther into it. “Now, what do you want, and where’s that Charlie? You’ve no idea how I’ve missed him. No––you stay there, and I’ll go and fetch him up.”
She darted off, and returned a moment later with Charlie in her arms. There were yards of mauve ribbon lying on the table and she cut off a length and tied it in a bow round his neck; then she kissed his head and dropped him on to his cushion. “There! Now, we’re quite at home again,” she said. “And now, fire away and tell me why you’re here.”
She packed all the dishes and boxes on to a tray, put them out of sight behind a screen and came back to the fire.
“Do you like this perfume? It’s something new! I’m trying to blend it with white rose. Isn’t it gorgeous?”
“Beautiful!” said Esther. She consented to have her chin dabbed. “What are you making now?” she asked.
Miss Mason chuckled.
“Oh, I’m only experimising, as Micky calls it,” she said lightly. “We don’t want to talk shop. You’ve got some news; I can see by your face that you have.”
Esther laughed and flushed.
“Oh, I have,” she said tremulously. “Such wonderful news.”
“Humph!” said June drily. “From the young man, of 83 course? Well, is he on his way home, and have you got to get a wedding dress in the next five minutes or something?”