"I do not think we shall want anything else," she said with a serenity
that cost her an effort, though it was excellently assumed.

The man limped away with the tray, though he stopped again at the foot
of the stairway. "If you take a notion of that pork after all, hammer
on the iron roofing sheet there, and I'll bring it right away," he said.

Alice Deringham waited until he was out of sight, and then lay back in
her chair and laughed when her father glanced at her with a little grim
smile.

"Savages, my dear!" he said. "Still, their intentions are evidently
kindly, which is unfortunate because it involves us in a difficulty."

"A difficulty?"

Deringham nodded. "I have a suspicion that our estimable kinsman, who
seems to consider that what is good enough for Somasco should content
anybody, might be offended if we slighted his hospitality, and that
teapot apparently contains at least three pints of strong green tea,"
he said. "I do not know whether you feel equal to consuming half of
it, but if it is the same as I had at breakfast I must be excused. One
could also fancy from their solidity that those cups had been intended
for breaking stones with."

"I can at least pour the tea over the balustrade," said the girl. "It
is the bread that presents the difficulty. It would crumble in your
pocket, and you will presumably have to eat a little to save
appearances."