The young lady laughed and gave him a kind glance. "You've made a
mistake, I think. My father doesn't know Mrs. Richie."
David had nothing to say, and she opened her book. When Mr. Pryor
returned, hurrying to collect the bags and umbrellas, David had turned
his back and was looking out of the window.
It was not until they were in the train that Alice remembered to speak
of the incident. "Who in the world is Mrs. Richie?" she demanded
gayly, "and where is Old Chester?"
The suddenness of it was like a blow. Lloyd Pryor actually gasped; his
presence of mind so entirely deserted him, that before he knew it, he
had lied--and no one knew better than Lloyd Pryor that it is a mistake
to lie hurriedly.
"I--I don't know! Never heard of either of them."
His confusion was so obvious that his daughter gave him a surprised
look. "But I'm told you stay at Mrs. Richie's house, in Old Chester,"
she said laughing.
"What are you talking about!"
"Why, father," she said blankly; his irritation was very
disconcerting.
"I tell you I never heard of such a person!" he repeated sharply; and
then realized what he had done. "Damn it, what did I lie for?" he said
to himself, angrily; and he began to try to get out of it: "Old
Chester? Oh, yes; I do remember. It's somewhere near Mercer, I
believe. But I never went there in my life." Then he added in his own
mind, "Confound it, I've done it again! What the devil has happened?
Who has told her?" Aloud, he asked where she had heard of Old Chester.
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