Part 23 (2/2)

Major Flint certainly looked as if he hated seeing her, instead of wis.h.i.+ng it, for he backed into a corner of the room and dropped his hat.

”Good morning, Miss Mapp,” he said. ”Very good of you. I--I called.”

He clearly had a difficulty in saying what he had come to say, but if he thought that she was proposing to give him the smallest a.s.sistance, he was in error.

”Yes, you called,” said she. ”Pray be seated.”

He did so; she stood; he got up again.

”I called,” said the Major, ”I called to express my very deep regret at my share, or, rather, that I did not take a more active share--I allowed, in fact, a friend of mine to speak to you in a manner that did equal discredit----”

Miss Mapp put her head on one side, as if trying to recollect some trivial and unimportant occurrence.

”Yes?” she said. ”What was that?”

”Captain Puffin,” began the Major.

Then Miss Mapp remembered it all.

”I hope, Major Flint,” she said, ”that you will not find it necessary to mention Captain Puffin's name to me. I wish him nothing but well, but he and his are no concern of mine. I have the charity to suppose that he was quite drunk on the occasion to which I imagine you allude.

Intoxication alone could excuse what he said. Let us leave Captain Puffin out of whatever you have come to say to me.”

This was adroit; it compelled the Major to begin all over again.

”I come entirely on my own account,” he began.

”I understand,” said Miss Mapp, instantly bringing Captain Puffin in again. ”Captain Puffin, now I presume sober, has no regret for what he said when drunk. I quite see, and I expected no more and no less from him. Yes. I am afraid I interrupted you.”

Major Flint threw his friend overboard like ballast from a b.u.mping balloon.

”I speak for myself,” he said. ”I behaved, Miss Mapp, like a--ha--worm.

Defenceless lady, insolent fellow drunk--I allude to Captain P----. I'm very sorry for my part in it.”

Up till this moment Miss Mapp had not made up her mind whether she intended to forgive him or not; but here she saw how crus.h.i.+ng a penalty she might be able to inflict on Puffin if she forgave the erring and possibly truly repentant Major. He had already spoken strongly about his friend's offence, and she could render life supremely nasty for them both--particularly Puffin--if she made the Major agree that he could not, if truly sorry, hold further intercourse with him. There would be no more golf, no more diaries. Besides, if she was observed to be friendly with the Major again and to cut Captain Puffin, a very natural interpretation would be that she had learned that in the original quarrel the Major had been defending her from some odious tongue to the extent of a challenge, even though he subsequently ran away. Tilling was quite clever enough to make that inference without any suggestion from her.... But if she forgave neither of them, they would probably go on boozing and golfing together, and saying quite dreadful things about her, and not care very much whether she forgave them or not. Her mind was made up, and she gave a wan smile.

”Oh, Major Flint,” she said, ”it hurt me so dreadfully that you should have stood by and heard that Man--if he is a man--say those awful things to me and not take my side. It made me feel so lonely. I had always been such good friends with you, and then you turned your back on me like that. I didn't know what I had done to deserve it. I lay awake ever so long.”

This was affecting, and he violently rubbed the nap of his hat the wrong way.... Then Miss Mapp broke into her sunniest smile.

”Oh, I'm so glad you came to say you were sorry!” she said. ”Dear Major Benjy, we're quite friends again.”

She dabbed her handkerchief on her eyes.

”So foolish of me!” she said. ”Now sit down in my most comfortable chair and have a cigarette.”

Major Flint made a peck at the hand she extended to him, and cleared his throat to indicate emotion. It really was a great relief to think that she would not make awful allusions to duels in the middle of bridge-parties.

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