Doubtless it was equally all right that,
before replying, she should consult her companion,
as she did at some length. Then she replied--and he had
no difficulty now in hearing her above the birds--that it
would be very nice of him to come, say, in an hour's time.
She told him the number--and then almost abruptly went in.
Thorpe, during this hour that ensued, smoked with
volcanic energy. He tried to interest himself in one
after another of half a dozen Tauchnitz novels his niece
carried about, with a preposterous absence of success.
He strove to arrange in some kind of sequence the things
that he should say, when this momentous interview
should begin, but he could think of nothing which did
not sound silly. It would be all right, he argued to
himself in the face of this present mental barrenness;
he always talked well enough on the spur of the moment,
when the time came--and still was not reassured.
He wondered if both ladies would be there to receive him,
and decided that they would probably regard that as indispensable
to the proprieties. In that case, their conversation would
necessarily be of the most casual and general character.
He would tell them a good deal about his niece, he foresaw.
A man travelling about with a niece--and such a delightfully
lady-like and engaging little niece--would take on some
added interest and dignity, he perceived, in the eyes
of ladies travelling alone.
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