“This lady was kind, though she was so funny. She got me some milk, because Mother never said I might have tea when I went calling, though I did want it, ’specially as lots of people were having it so funnily in teeny-weeny little glasses without any milk or sugar; and the lady got me a nice little pink cake too. Then she sat down beside me and asked me why I’d come, and she hardly seemed to believe it when I told her Mother had said I could go and pay calls instead of her now. She asked me about the opera glasses too, so I said I knew people took them when they went out, but I hadn’t been sure about calls, only I thought it was a good thing always to be on the safe side, like Jane says. The funny lady asked me who Jane was, and I said, ‘Our housemaid,’ and the funny lady said it was a wise rule, although perhaps opera glasses were not very customary when calling. “Just at this minute I looked up, and I saw a most ’stonishing thing. A lady was holding a cigarette, and a gentleman was striking a match to light it. The gentleman saw me looking and he began to laugh, and he called out, ‘Take care, or that little girl’s eyes will drop out of her head with fright.’ Then he said, ‘Haven’t you ever seen a lady smoke before?’ and I said, ‘No ladies ever do smoke,’ and they all laughed again, I don’t know why. They seemed to be always laughing. “The clock struck then, and that made me think of the time, so I asked them if I’d been there twenty minutes yet, because I’d forgotten to look when I came in. I’d asked Father yesterday how long people ought to stay at calls, and he told me he believed twenty minutes was the correct time. One gentleman said I’d been in the room twenty-one minutes, fifteen seconds and three-quarters, so I went out quickly. I didn’t know if I ought to shake hands with Mr. John and the other beautiful one at the door, but I had such a lot of things to carry I thought they’d excuse me, so I just said goodbye. That’s all. It was such a long way home I thought it would never come. It was such a very long way.” Wasn’t that astonishing? I hadn’t interrupted Violet, because I wanted to hear it all, though of course I knew that she’d made a mistake, and that Mother had never meant that she should go and call on the Crespignys alone. It was no good saying anything when she’d finished because she was nearly asleep, so I just went and helped her to go to bed. Then I went down and told Father. I tried to tell him exactly what Violet had said, and he simply roared with laughter. I didn’t think it was funny myself, but just like a story; and I do think Violet was very brave. Father went up at once to forgive her and say good-night, but she was too sleepy to understand anything except that it was all right.