"Channing won't be back until
to-morrow, and there is no one to meet her except Decker if you
don't. Outside of an automobile Decker has no sense and--"
"Meet whom?" Laine flicked the ashes from his cigar into the grate.
"Who is it you want me to meet?"
"Claudia Keith. She is a cousin of Channing's and lives somewhere in
Virginia on the Rappahannock River, miles from a railroad, and has
never been to New York alone before. I thought I had told you she
was coming, but I see you so seldom lately that I forget what I tell
you and what I don't. The children think it's inhuman. After a
while you won't know how to behave in company, and what will your old
books and your money matter if--"
"By and by nothing will matter, my dear, but Decker's honk will be
heard before I understand what you're getting at, if you don't hurry.
What do you want me to do?"
"I want you to meet the nine-fifteen train from the South and--"
"Pick out an unknown person and bring her to a hostless house? I
wish I was as nice as you think I am, dear madam, but I'm not. I
suppose you also want me to apologize to your guest for your absence
from home, tell her a pretty fairy tale and say--"
"If you'd say the right thing I'd like you to make up something, but
you wouldn't.
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