"So the credit is yours, not mine."
He smiled teasingly at her as he folded the letter and put it away again. Mrs.
Allerton let the thought just flash across her mind:
"Most letters he shows to me. He only reads me snippets from Joanna's."
But she put the unworthy thought away from her, and decided, as ever, to behave like a gentlewoman.
"Is Joanna enjoying life?" she asked.
"So so. Says she thinks of opening a delicatessen shop in Mayfair."
"She always talks about being hard up," said Mrs. Allerton with a tinge of spite. "But she goes about everywhere and her clothes must cost her a lot. She's always beautifully dressed."
"Ah, well," said Tim. "She probably doesn't pay for them. No, Mother, I don't mean what your Edwardian mind suggests to you. I just mean quite literally that she leaves her bills unpaid."
Mrs. Allerton sighed.
"I never know how people manage to do that."
"It's a kind of special gift," said Tim. "If only you have sufficiently extravagant tastes, and absolutely no sense of money values, people will give you any amount of credit."
"Yes, but you come to the Bankruptcy Court in the end like poor Sir George Wode."
"You have a soft spot for that old horse coper-probably because he called you a rosebud in 1879 at a dance."
"I wasn't born in 1879," Mrs. Allerton retorted with spirit. "Sir George has charming manners and I won't have you calling him a horse coper."
"I've heard funny stories about him from people that know."
"You and Joanna don't mind what you say about peopleanything will do so long as it's sufficiently ill-natured."
Tim raised his eyebrows.
"My dear, you're quite heated. I didn't know old Wode was such a favourite of yours.
"You don't realise how hard it is for him-having to sell Wode Hall. He cared terribly about that place."
Tim suppressed the easy retort. After all, who was he to judge? Instead he said thoughtfully:
"You know, I think you're not far wrong there. Linnet asked him to come down and see what she'd done to the place and he refused quite rudely."
"Of course. She ought to have known better than to ask him."
"And I believe he's quite venomous about her-mutters things under his breath whenever he sees her. Can't forgive her for having giving him an absolutely top price for the wormeaten family estate." "And you can't understand that?" Mrs. Allerton spoke sharply.
"Frankly," said Tim calmly, "I can't. Why live in the past? Why cling on to things that have been?"
"What are you going to put in their place?"
He shrugged his shoulders.
"Excitement, perhaps. Novelty. The joy of never knowing what may turn up from day to day. Instead of inheriting a useless tract of land, the pleasure of making money for yourself by your own brains and skill."
"A successful deal on the Stock Exchange in fact!"
He laughed:
"Why not?"
"And what about an equal loss on the Stock Exchange?"
"That, dear, is rather tactless. And quite inappropriate to-day What about this Egypt plan?" "Well-"
He cut in, smiling at her.
"That's settled. We've both always wanted to see Egypt." "When do you suggest?" "Oh, next month. January's about the best time there. We'll enjoy the delightful society in this hotel a few weeks longer." "Tim!" said Mrs. Allerton reproachfully. Then she added guiltily. "I'm afraid I promised Mrs. Leech that you'd go with her to the police station. She doesn't understand any Spanish." Tim made a grimace.
"About her ring? The blood red ruby of the horseleech's daughter? Does she still persist in thinking it's been stolen? I'll go if you like, but it's a waste of time.
She'll only get some wretched chambermaid into trouble. I distinctly saw it on her finger when she went into the sea that day. It came off in the water and she never noticed."
"She says she is quite sure she took it off and left it on her dressing-table." "Well, she didn't. I saw it with my own eyes. The woman's a fool. Any woman's a fool who goes prancing into the sea in December pretending the water's quite warm just because the sun happens to be shining rather brightly at the moment.
Stout women oughtn't to be allowed to bathe anyway. They look so revolting in bathing dresses." Mrs.
Allerton murmured: "I really feel I ought to give up bathing." Tim gave a shout of laughter.
"You?
You can give most of the young things points and to spare." Mrs.
Allerton sighed and said: "I wish there were a few more young people for you here." Tim Allerton shook his head decidedly.
"I don't. You and I get along rather comfortably without outside distractions." "You'd like it if Joanna were here." "I wouldn't."His tone was unexpectedly resolute. "You're all wrong there.
Joanna amuses me, but I don't really like her, and to have her around much gets on my nerves. I'm thankful she isn't here. I should be quite resigned if I were never to see Joanna again." He added, almost below his breath: "There's only one woman in the world I've got a real respect and admiration for.
And I think, Mrs. Allerton, you know very well who that woman is."
His mother blushed and looked quite confused.
Tim said gravely:
"There aren't very many really nice women in the world. You happen to be one of them." ix In an apartment overlooking Central Park in New York, Mrs. Robson exclaimed:
"If that isn't just too lovely! You really are the luckiest girl, Cornelia." Cornelia Robson flushed responsively.
She was a big clumsy-looking girl with brown dog-like eyes.
"Oh, it will be wonderful," she gasped.
Old Miss Van Schuyler inclined her head in a satisfied fashion at this correct attitude on the part of poor relations.
"I've always dreamed of a trip to Europe," sighed Cornelia. "But I just didn't feel I'd ever get there."
"Miss Bowers will come with me as usual, of course," said Miss Van Schuyler.
"But as a social companion I find her limited-very limited. There are many little things that Cornelia can do for me."
"I'd just love to, Cousin Marie," said Cornelia eagerly.
"Well, well, then that's settled," said Miss Van Schuyler. "Just run and find
Miss Bowers, my dear. It's time for my egg nog." Cornelia departed.
Her mother said:
"My dear Marie, I'm really most grateful to you! You know I think Cornelia suffers a lot from not being a social success. It makes her feel kind of mortified. If I could afford to take her.to places--but you know how it's been since Ned died."
"I'm very glad to take her," said Miss Van Schuyler. "Cornelia has always been a nice handy girl, willing to run errands, and not so selfish as some of these young peo. ple nowadays."
Mrs. Robson rose and kissed her rich relative's wrinkled and slightly yellow face.
"I'm just ever so grateful," she declared.
On the stairs she met a tall capable looking woman who was carrying a glass containing a yellow foamy liquid.
"Well, Miss Bowers, so you're off to Europe?" "Why, yes, Mrs. Robson." "What a lovely trip!"
"Why, yes, I should think it would be very enjoyable."
"But you've been abroad before?"
"Oh yes, Mrs. Robson. I went over to Pis with Miss Van Schuyler last Fall.
But I've never been to Egypt before."
Mrs. Robson hesitated.
"I do hopc there won't be any-trouble."
She had lowered her voice.
Miss Bowers, however, replied in her usual tone.
"Oh, no, Mrs. Robson, I shall take good care of that. I keep a very sharp look out always."
But there was still a faint shadow on Mrs. continued down the stairs.
Robson's face as she slowly
In his office down town Mr. Andrew Pennington was opening his personal mail.
Suddenly his fist clenched itself and came down on his desk with a bang, his face crimsoned and two big veins stood out on his forehead.
He pressed a buzzer on his desk and a smart-looking stenographer appeared with commendable promptitude.