When he got
there the Prophet cried, rather sharply,--
"Stop a moment!"
Gustavus stopped.
"Sir?"
"The--I--er--I am expecting a--a--couple this afternoon," began the
Prophet, speaking with considerable hesitation, and still gazing, in a
hypnotised manner, at the telegram.
"A couple, sir?"
"Exactly. A pair."
"A pair, sir? Of horses, sir?"
"Horses! No--of people, that is, persons."
"A pair of persons, sir. Yes, sir."
"They should arrive towards five o'clock."
"Yes, sir."
"If I should not be home by that time you will show them very quietly
into my library--not the drawing-room. Mrs. Merillia is not at present
equal to receiving ordinary guests."
The Prophet meant extraordinary, but he preferred to put it the other
way.
"Yes, sir. What name, sir?"
"Mr. and Mrs.--that is, Madame Sagittarius. That will do."
Gustavus hastened to the servants' hall to discuss the situation,
while the Prophet stood re-reading the telegram with an expression of
shattered dismay. Not for at least five minutes did he recover himself
sufficiently to remember his appointment with Lady Enid, and, when at
length he set forth to Hill Street, he was so painfully preoccupied that
he walked three times completely round the square before he discovered
the outlet into that fashionable thoroughfare.
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