The reply he received staggered him.
"It is nonsense," she said, looking up calmly, "to talk of obstacles. I should have invited him long ago."
"You!" he exclaimed. "Would you—really?"
"Yes," she answered. "Why not"
"Why—not?" he repeated, feebly. "I don't know why not. I thought that perhaps" and then he broke off. "I wish I had known as much before," he added.
When he received the invitation, Murdoch declined it.
"I should only be out of place," he said, candidly to Miss Ffrench. "I should know nobody and nobody would know me. Why should I come?"
"There is a very good reason why you should come," answered the young woman with perfect composure. "I am the reason."
There was no further discussion of the point. He was present and Haworth sat opposite to him at the table.
"It's the first time for him?" said Haworth to Miss Ffrench afterward.
"It is the first time he has dined here with other people," she answered. "Have you a reason for asking?"
He held his coffee-cup in his hand and glanced over it across the room,
"He is not like the rest on 'em," he said, "but he stands it pretty well, by George!"
