paid for the beds which Lalage and Hilda had not slept in as well as
for that which Miss Battersby had enjoyed during the afternoon. Lalage
argued with him in French, which he understood very imperfectly, and she
boasted afterward that she had convinced him of the unreasonableness of
his demand. I, privately, paid his bill.

There were also difficulties with Miss Battersby. She had, so Hilda told
me, the strongest possible objection to putting on her clothes again.
But Lalage was determined. In less than an hour after our return to the
hotel I was sitting opposite to Miss Battersby, who was swathed rather
than dressed, in a railway carriage, speeding along the northern shore
of the Tagus estuary.

I had, early in the summer, made friends with a Mr. and Mrs Dodds,
who were living in my hotel. Mr. Dodds was a Glasgow merchant and was
conducting the Portuguese side of his firm's business. Mrs. Dodds was
a native of Paisley. They were both very fond of bridge, and I had got
into the habit of playing with them every evening. We depended on chance
for a fourth member of our party, and just at the time of Lalage's visit
were particularly fortunate in securing a young English engineer who was
installing a service of electric light somewhere in the neighbourhood.
The Doddses were friendly people and I had gradually come to entertain
a warm regard for them in spite of the extreme severity of their bridge
and Mrs. Dodds's habit of speaking plainly about my mistakes. I would
not, except under great pressure, cause any inconvenience or annoyance
to the Doddses. But Lalage is great pressure. When she said that I was
to spend the evening talking to her I saw at once that the bridge must
be sacrificed. My plan was to apologize profusely to the Doddses, and
leave them condemned for one evening to sit bridgeless till bedtime.
But Lalage would not hear of this. She wanted, so she said, to talk
confidentially to me. Miss Battersby was an obstacle in her way, and
so she ordered me to introduce Miss Battersby as my substitute at the
bridge table.

If Miss Battersby had acted reasonably and gone to bed either before or
immediately after dinner this would have been unnecessary. But she did
not. She became immoderately cheerful and was most anxious to enjoy
herself. I set her down at the card table and then, as quickly as
possible, fled. Miss Battersby's bridge is of the most rudimentary and
irritating kind and she has a conscientious objec