“It isn’t true, sir,” said Mr. Green, respectfully. “I didn’t say anything of the kind.”
“Wot did you say, then?” enquired Captain Barber, in a voice which the company thought far too mild for the occasion.
“She was standing at the door as I passed,” said Mr. Green, nervously, “and I asked her to go for a walk with me.”
“Lawk-a-mussy me!” screamed the horrified Mrs. Banks.
“We went for a nice little stroll,” continued the graceless Mr. Green, “and then I s’pose she found it was later than she thought, and she began to make a fuss.”
“Me, at my time o’ life?” demanded the indignant Mrs. Banks of the audience.
“You did make a fuss,” said Mr. Green.
“O’ course I made a fuss when I found out how I had been deceived. You were here when he came, Mrs. Church, weren’t you?”
“I would rather not say anything about it,” said the housekeeper, freezingly.
“I insist upon your speaking,” said the old lady, getting very red in the face.