She blushed furiously. "Nonsense!" she said, and abruptly left him
to take a seat beside Katherine Rodney. He found small comfort in the
whisperings and titterings that came, willy-nilly, to his burning ears
from the corner of the compartment. He had a disquieting impression that
they were discussing him; it was forced in upon him that being a
brother-in-law is not an enviable occupation.
"Wot?" he asked, almost fiercely, after the insistent Freddie had thrice
repeated a question.
"I say, will you have a cigaret?" half shouted Freddie, exasperated.
"Oh! No, thanks. The train makes such a beastly racket, don't you know."
"They told me at the Bristol you were deaf, but--Oh, I say, old man, I'm
sorry. Which ear is it?"
"The one next to you," replied Brock, recovering from his confusion. "I
hear perfectly well with the other one."
"Yes," drawled Freddie, with a wink, "so I've observed." After a
reflective silence the young man ventured the interesting conclusion,
"She's a stunning girl, all right." Brock looked polite askance. "By
Jove, I'm glad she isn't _my_ sister-in-law."
"I suppose I'm expected to ask why," frigidly.
"Certainly. Because, if she was, I _couldn't_. Do you get the point?" He
crossed his legs and looked insupportably sure of himself.
They reached Munich late in the afternoon and went at once to the Hotel
Vier Jahretzeiten, where they were to find the Odell-Carneys.
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