[_Quietly to Queckett._] Did you give the girls the notes?
Oh! Never mind--I'll whisper to them now. [_She whispers hurriedly to Dinah, Gwendoline, and Ermyntrude._]
[_To himself._] didn't understand they were for the girls. [_He goes to the head of the table as Rankling, Mallory, and Saunders come suddenly together, each carrying a note._]
[_To Mallory._] Mallory, we were right--there is some horrible mystery about Queckett. [_Looking to see they are not observed._] I've had an anonymous warning. "For heaven's sake, don't touch the pud--pudding."
I know. Tell the old gentleman. [_To Saunders._] He knows. [_To Rankling._] He knows. [_ With a simultaneous gesture they pocket the notes and go to find their seats at table. They all sit. The lobster salad and the pâté have been placed by Tyler at the end of the table. Tyler now enters carrying nine large plates which he places before Queckett._]
[_ With assumed composure and good spirits. _] There is a spontaneity about our jolly little supper which will perhaps, ah'm! atone for any absence of elaboration.
Just as it should be, my dear fellow. [_Tyler goes out._]
The language of the heart is simplicity. Our little supper is from the heart.
Ah, I shall never forget your little suppers in the Albany--where were they from?
Gunters', Jack. [_With a groan._] Oh! [_ Jane, at the door, hands to Tyler a very small pudding in a silver basin, which he places before Queckett._]
[_To themselves._] The pudding! [_They exhibit great eagerness to get a view of the pudding. _]
[_Behind Mallory's bach._] Oh, how shameful it looks!
[_Falteringly._] Here is a homely little dish which has fascinations for many, though I never touch it myself--I never touch it myself. [_Rankling, Mallory and Saunders exchange significant looks._] Ah'm! A pudding made of larks. [_He glances round, all look down, there is deep silence._] A pudding--made--of larks. [_To Dinah._] My dear--a very little?
Perhaps you're right. Gwendoline, a suggestion?
[_To Peggy._] Margaret, I know what your digestion is--I won't tempt you. [_To Ermyntrude._] Ermyntrude--the least in the world?
[_To herself!_] Brave girls; I was afraid they'd falter.
[_Heartily.'_] Now then--Admiral Rankling?