III
The incident had been so rapid that the door closed on
the departing pair before the other members had time to
understand what was happening. Then a sense of the
indignity put upon them by Osric Dane's unceremonious
desertion began to contend with the confused feeling that
they had been cheated out of their due without exactly
knowing how or why.
There was a silence, during which Mrs. Ballinger, with a
perfunctory hand, rearranged the skilfully grouped litera-
ture at which her distinguished guest had not so much as
glanced; then Miss Van Vluyck tartly pronounced: "Well,
I can't say that I consider Osric Dane's departure a great
loss."
This confession crystallised the resentment of the other
members, and Mrs. Leveret exclaimed: "I do believe she
came on purpose to be nasty!"
It was Mrs. Plinth's private opinion that Osric Dane's
attitude toward the Lunch Club might have been very
different had it welcomed her in the majestic setting of
the Plinth drawing-rooms; but not liking to reflect on the
inadequacy of Mrs. Ballinger's establishment she sought
a roundabout satisfaction in depreciating her lack of fore-
sight.
"I said from the first that we ought to have had a subject
HYLAND
