She was too clever to overdo her part, and made no further allusions to the supposed BILLET DOUX, which had caused Sir Andrew Ffoulkes such an agonising five minutes. She watched his anxiety melting away under her sunny smile, and soon perceived that, whatever doubt may have crossed his mind at the moment, she had, by the time the last bars of the minuet had been played, succeeded in completely dispelling it; he never realised in what a fever of excitement she was, what effort it cost her to keep up a constant ripple of BANALconversation.
When the minuet was over, she asked Sir Andrew to take her into the next room.
"I have promised to go down to supper with His Royal Highness," she said, "but before we part, tell me. . .am I forgiven?""Forgiven?"