The lady rustled and beamed.

“And is ‘It’ agreeable? I have always heard that ‘Its’ time is so precious.”

“James will be delighted.”

“Obliging thing.”

Canterton was reserved and a little stiff.

“I shall be ready at eleven. I can give you an hour, Mrs. Batsby.”

“‘It’ is really a humorist, Mrs. Canterton. That barbed wire! I don’t think I ever came across anything so delightfully original.”

Gertrude frowned and screwed her shoulders.

“I cannot see the humour.”

“But I think Mrs. Batsby does. I have a good many original plants on my premises.”