armella, watching from the window, saw the Barrington sedan arrive, and saw also that Dixon was not driving. Instead was a tall, angular individual whose manner and words, when he spoke, revealed him as recently from England. He had, indeed, so lately learned to turn right instead of left, as in England, that he was still easily confused.
“Where’s Dixon?” asked Carmella. “I don’t know, ma’am,” he replied, narrowly avoiding a turn to the left in meeting another machine. If only these Americans would stop chattering to the driver! “I think he was allowed to go, ma’am,” he added, after regaining control of his wheel.
Mrs. Barrington greeted Carmella warmly. Luncheon was announced immediately. Neither Margaret nor John was present. The hostess explained that both were lunching with school friends.
“I see so little of them now!” she mourned. “So many engagements! It’s so very different from when I was a girl.”
Carmella reflected that Margaret was only a year
[234]
