Ronald's awkward couplet gave him employment for the rest of the
morning, and lunch-time found him still dissatisfied. An adjective
avoided his quest--the right adjective; the one and only word which
expressed the precise shade of meaning desired. From the recesses of
his brain it peeped at him, now advancing so near that it was almost
within grasp, anon retreating to a shadowy distance. There was no help
for it but to wait for the moment when, tired of its game of hide-and-
seek, it would choose the most unexpected and inappropriate moment to
peer boldly forward, and make its curtsy.
Meantime Margot had dusted the china in the drawing-room, watered the
plants, put in an hour's practising, and done a few odds and ends of
mending; in a word, had gone through the programme which comprises the
duties of a well-to-do modern maiden, and by half-past eleven was
stepping out of the door, arrayed in a pretty spring dress, and her
third best hat. She crept quietly along the hall, treading with the
cautious steps of one who wishes to escape observation; but her
precautions were in vain, for just as she was passing the door of the
morning-room it was thrown open from within, and Agnes appeared upon the
threshold--Agnes neat and trim in her morning gown of serviceable fawn
alpaca, her hands full of tradesmen's books, on her face an expression
of acute disapproval.
"Going out, Margot? So early? It's not long past eleven o'clock!"
"I know?"
"Where are you going?"
"Don't know!"
"If you are passing down Edgware Road--"
"I'm not!"
The front door closed with a bang, leaving Agnes discomfited on the mat.
There was no denying that at times Margot was distinctly difficult in
her dealings with her elder sister. She herself was aware of the fact,
and repented ardently after each fresh offence, but alas! without
reformation.
"We don't fit. We never shall, if we live together a hundred years.
Edgware Road, indeed, on a morning like this, when you can hear the
spring a-calling, and it's a sin and a shame to live in a city at all!
If I had told her I was going into the Park, she would have offered
stale bread for the ducks!" Margot laughed derisively as she crossed
the road in the direction of the Park, and passing in through a narrow
gateway, struck boldly across a wide avenue between stretches of grass
where the wind and sun had full play, and she could be as much alone as
possible, within the precincts of the great city.