ile Odell-Carney was studiously adjusting his eyeglass for a final
glare at an unoffending 'bus boy who almost dropped his tray of plates
in consequence, Mr. Rodney fussily intervened and introduced the
Medcrofts. Mrs. Odell-Carney was delightfully gracious; she was sure
that no nicer party could have been "got together." Her husband may have
been excessively slow in most things, but he was quick to recognise and
appreciate feminine beauty of face and figure. He unbent at once in the
presence of the unmistakably handsome Fowler sisters; his expressive
"chawmed" was in direct contrast to his ordinary manner of acknowledging
an introduction.

"Mr. Medcroft is the famous architect, you know," explained the anxious
Mrs. Rodney.

"Oh, yes, I know," drawled Mr. Odell-Carney. "You American architects
are doing great things, 'pon my soul," he added luminously. Brock stuck
his eyeglass in tighter and hemmed with raucous precision. Mrs. Medcroft
stiffened perceptibly.

"Oh, but he's Mr. Roxbury Medcroft, the great English architect," cried
Mrs. Rodney, in some little confusion. Odell-Carney suddenly remembered.
He glared hard at Brock; the Rodneys saw signs of disaster.

"Oh, by Jove, are _you_ the fellow who put those new windows in the
Chaucer Memorial Hall? 'Pon me soul! Are you the man who did that?"
There was no mistaking his manner; he was distinctly annoyed.

Brock faced the storm coolly, for his friend Medcroft's sake. "I am
Roxbury Medcroft, if that's what you mean, Mr. Odell-Carney."

"I know you're Medcroft, but, hang it all, wot I asked was, did you
design those windows? 'Gad, sir, they're the laughing sensation of the
age. Where the devil did you get such ideas--eh, wot?" His wife had
calmly, diplomatically intervened.

"I hate that man," said Mrs. Medcroft to her supposed husband a few
minutes later. There was a dangerous red in her cheeks, and she was
breathing quickly. Brock gave an embarrassed laugh and mentioned
something audibly about a "stupid ass."

The entire party left on the following day for Innsbruck, where Mr.
Rodney already had reserved the better part of a whole floor for himself
and guests. Mr. Odell-Carney, before they left Munich, brought himself
to the point of apologising to Brock for his peppery remarks. He was
sorry and all that, and he hoped they'd be friends; but the windows were
atrocious, there was no getting around that. His wife smoothed it over
with Edith by confiding to her the