d not prolong the whole sitting beyond two hours, when he expressed
himself delighted with this beginning, and offered them tea.

They accepted eagerly. "Will you be making it, Mr. Wyndham?" they asked,
their eyes shining with amusement.

"Oh, I'm an old hand at it," he assured them. He threw open a door which
they had imagined to indicate a cupboard. "Kitchen, scullery, and every
kind of domestic office rolled into one," he explained, and promptly
disappeared inside it. They came peeping in gleefully, fascinated by the
rough white-washed doll's interior with its miniature dresser, and they
watched him fill his kettle and put together the tea-things. Then he
emerged, set the kettle over the fire, spread the table with a fresh
cloth, and emptied a large bag of cakes on to a fascinating plate of
old-seeming majolica.

"How nice!" said Miss Robinson, her face shining with make-believe
gluttony.

"There are some chocolate fingers among them--just the sort you like,"
said her mother.

"And tiny cream-cakes--just the sort you like, mamma," returned Alice.

"How much tea do you put in the pot?" inquired Mrs. Robinson.

"One spoonful for the pot, and one for each cup," quoted Wyndham
promptly. "And I am always careful to warm the pot first with a little
of the hot water, and, in scalding the leaves, I am equally careful to
catch the water at the exact moment it boils."

"If only our cook were as careful!" sighed Mrs. Robinson.

Wyndham asked them if they would like their tea in the Russian style.
They didn't quite know what it was, but it sounded interesting, so they
said they'd certainly like to try it. Whereupon he fished out a large
lemon, and, cutting it up, put slices into their cups. They were in a
happy mood. They kept him sternly to the role of host, refusing to spoil
the fun by moving a finger to help him. And when he had completed all
the processes, and poured the tea for them, they praised its fragrance
and delicacy to the skies, and in a trice he was called upon to renew
the supply. They likewise declared the cakes delicious, and ate them
with affected greed. Meanwhile he let them see some of his pictures;
showing off his tall, handsome figure, and occasionally balancing his
cup to a nicety, as he talked and manipulated the canvasses from his
point of vantage. And when tea was over, he kept them some little time
further, whilst he exhibited his overwhelming masterpiece, which he had
kept to the end with it