No sooner had he reached his hotel than he called up Mrs. Paget. Quite
clearly she understood that he wanted an invitation to dinner. Yet she
hesitated.
"My 'phone can't be working well," Gordon told her gayly. "You must have
asked me to dinner, but I didn't just hear it. Never mind. I'll be
there. Seven o'clock, did you say?"
Diane laughed. "You're just as much a boy as you were ten years ago,
Gord. All right. Come along. But you're to leave at ten. Do you
understand?"
"No, I can't hear that. My 'phone has gone bad again. And if I had
heard, I shouldn't think of doing anything so ridiculous as leaving at
that hour. It would be an insult to your hospitality. I know when I'm
well off."
"Then I'll have to withdraw my invitation. Perhaps some other day--"
"I'll leave at ten," promised Elliot meekly.
He could almost hear the smile in her voice as she answered. "Very well.
Seven sharp. I'll explain about the curfew limit sometime."
Macdonald was with Miss O'Neill in the living-room when Gordon arrived
at the Paget home.
Sheba came forward to greet the new guest. The welcome in her eyes was
very genuine.
"You and Mr. Macdonald know each other, of course," she said after her
handshake.
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