He then came cherubically flying out without a hat, and embraced her, and handed her in. “For it’s after hours and I am all alone, my dear,” he explained, “and am having⁠—as I sometimes do when they are all gone⁠—a quiet tea.”

Looking round the office, as if her father were a captive and this his cell, Bella hugged him and choked him to her heart’s content.

“I never was so surprised, my dear!” said her father. “I couldn’t believe my eyes. Upon my life, I thought they had taken to lying! The idea of your coming down the Lane yourself! Why didn’t you send the footman down the Lane, my dear?”

“I have brought no footman with me, Pa.”

“Oh indeed! But you have brought the elegant turnout, my love?”

“No, Pa.”

“You never can have walked, my dear?”