The dinner-party was smaller to-night on account of the people who had left by the evening trains. Alice, whose foot hardly hurt at all and who had very much enjoyed being an invalid in Lady Pomfret’s sitting-room all afternoon, was much to her pleasure next to Roddy.
‘How’s the foot?’ he said as soon as they had sat down.
Alice said it was nearly quite all right. Not all right for dancing perhaps, but quite all right. And would he please not say anything to her mother about it in case she worried, and she didn’t want her to think it was Julian’s fault.
‘Whose fault was it then?’ said Roddy.
‘Well, people oughtn’t to stand behind horses,’ said Alice. ‘You’ve told me that often, Roddy.’
‘People oughtn’t to play the fool with horses,’ said Roddy, and was going to say more, but Alice loo
