"Well, not much. He comes from Hertfordshire."
"He's English then! I thought so," said Mac, relieved.
"He said No," I answered. "That was one of the most curious remarks he made. He said he was an alien."
"Did he, by Jove! So he is; but it's a very strange thing to say," said Mac. Bill regarded me with interest.
"He's going to keep us guessing," she remarked, dolefully.
"No," I said, taking another piece of toast. "He accepted my invitation to tea this afternoon, and he is going to tell us about himself."
After all I had overlooked my most telling item. I might have known that the fact of his visit would prove more thrilling than any gossip coming secondhand from me. They wished to speak with him again, this man who had come upon us so quietly yet so dramatically. We had all become sufficiently American to desire "a good look at him." And when Americans take a good look at you they go over you with a fine tooth comb. They see everything, from a knot in your bootlace to the gold-filling in your teeth. My friends "sat up" as I made my announcement. I felt that, in editorial parlance, I had made a scoop.
"Bully!" said Mac, and Bill, her chin on her hand, looked across at me with approval. After all, again, my lack of enterprise in interrogating Mr. Carville the night before was bearing fruit. It was crediting me with a sportsmanlike reluctance to steal a march on my friends. I had, unconsciously done what we English call "the right thing." I had invited him to tea. Suddenly Bill's eyes became anxious.
"Are they both coming?" she asked.
"I—I don't think so," I faltered. "I can't say exactly why, but I don't think so. You see," I went on, "the reason he offered to tell me about himself was a question of mine about his children. I said their names were curious enough to strike anyone. He said it was a long story. And he offered to step over himself. Now," I felt more certain of myself now, "the story of his children's names may take two directions. If he named them he will not want his wife to hear him tell about it. If she named them, which is not likely, why, he would scarcely take the trouble to come over and tell strangers about it, would he?"