Muriel opened the envelope and read: "Can you have me week or longer harribels have measles Felix not due England till 24th no money to go Italy Duquesne."
She read it to herself. She read it aloud to her mother. She could not believe her eyes.
"What does it mean?" asked Mrs. Hammond.
Muriel explained. "It's Clare, Clare Duquesne. You remember, my great friend at Heathcroft, at least she wasn't exactly my friend, but I always wanted her to be. She went to Germany to learn singing."
"Yes, but I don't understand. Does she want to come here?"
"Well—I—she—I think. It looks as though she had been going to stay with the Harribels, and they had measles."
"But, who is Félix?"
"Félix is her father, Félix Duquesne, you know, the writer; he writes in French, and it's Clare's mother who insists that he shall be called Félix because 'Mother' and 'Father' make her feel so old and when you are on the stage you have to keep young because of the dear public," Muriel explained, feeling that somehow she was not being as clear as she might have wished.
"But, my dear child, you can't expect her to come here on her own invitation like this at a moment's notice. I never heard of such a thing. And uninvited. Really, I don't know what girls are coming to."
"But I did say—I mean I didn't ever think that she'd come, only I did say that I knew we should be pleased to see her. You see——"