It was just after half-past ten the next morning, when Guy, while busily engaged in drawing up a lease in his office, was interrupted by a knock at the door.
"Come in," he called out, and in answer to his summons, Tony, wearing a grey plush hat and motoring gloves, sauntered into the room. He looked round with an air of leisurely interest.
"Good-morning, Guy," he said. "I like interrupting you at this time. I always feel I am throwing you out for the entire day."
Guy laid down his pen.
"It's a harmless delusion," he observed, "and if it gets you out of bed——"
"Oh, that didn't get me out of bed. It was an appointment I have to keep." He walked across to the fireplace and helped himself to a cigarette from a box on the mantlepiece. "Are you feeling in a sympathetic mood this morning, Guy?"
The latter shook his head. "Not particularly. Why?"
Tony struck a match. "Well, it's like this. I have invited our cousin Isabel to come round and see me, and now I find myself unexpectedly compelled to go out. What's more I don't know how long it will be before I get back." He paused and looked at Guy with a mischievous twinkle in his eye. "Do you think I can trust you to be kind and gentle with her?"
Guy adjusted his pince-nez and looked across at Tony with some sternness.
"I have already told you, Tony," he said, "that I disapprove very strongly of this impossible escapade of yours. You don't know what trouble it may lead you into. For a man who wants to get into Parliament any kind of scandal is absolutely fatal."