Chapter XXIXDinner was over at last. Charles had never endured forty minutes more crowded with indiscretions. He was reduced to a condition of exasperated resignation. After all, neither Freddy nor Archie mattered; but unless one locked the creature up, she would prattle in the same artless way to anyone she met. He thought of uninhabited islands with yearning, and of Margaret with rage. If it were not for Margaret he would not be mixed up in this damned affair at all.
The girls went upstairs to put on their coats. Freddy fussed away to see if the car had come round. Archie turned a reproachful eye on Charles.
‘Why teach an innocent child to practise concealments?’
Charles had no reply but a frown.
‘Why keep me out of it anyhow? Why pretend?’
‘What are you driving at?’
‘Well, she’s M
