I sniggered—­I couldn’t help it—­at Barbara’s face.  He went on with his reminiscences.  Barbara nearly wept, whilst I, though displeased with Liosha for introducing such an incongruous element into my family circle, took the rational course of deriving from the fellow considerable entertainment.  Jaffery would have done the same as myself, had not his responsibility as Liosha’s guardian weighed heavily upon him.  He frowned, and ate in silence, vastly.  Doria, like my wife, I could see was shocked.  The only two who, beside myself, enjoyed our guest were Susan and Liosha.  Well, Susan was nine years old and a meal at which a guest broke her whole decalogue of table manners at once—­to say nothing of the performance of such miracles as squeezing an orange into nothingness, without the juice running out, and subsequently extracting it from the neck of an agonised mother—­was a feast of memorable gaudiness.  Susan could be excused.  But Liosha?  Liosha, pupil of the admirable Mrs. Considine?  Liosha, descendant of proud Albanian chieftains who had lain in gory beds for centuries?  How could she admire this peculiarly vulgar, although, in his own line, peculiarly accomplished person?  Yet her admiration was obvious.  She sat by my side, grand and radiant, proud of the wondrous gift she had bestowed on us.  She acclaimed his tricks, she laughed at his anecdotes, she urged him on to further exhibition of prowess, and in a magnificent way appeared unconscious of the presence at the table of her trustee and would-be dragon, Jaffery Chayne.

After lunch Susan obeyed my instructions and stuck very close to Mr. Fendihook.  Doria retired for her afternoon rest.  Jaffery, having invited Liosha to go for a long walk with him and she having declined, with a polite smile, on the ground that her best Sunday-go-to-meeting long gown was not suitable for country roads, went off by himself in dudgeon.  Barbara took Liosha aside and cross-examined her on the subject of Mr. Fendihook and as far as hospitality allowed signified her non-appreciation of the guest.  After a time I took him into the billiard room, Susan following.  As he was a brilliant player, giving me one hundred and fifty in two hundred and running out easily before I had made thirty, he found less excitement in the game than in narrating his exploits and performing tricks for the child.  He did astonishing things with the billiard balls, making them run all over his body like mice and balancing them on cues and juggling with them five at a time.  I think that day he must have gone through his whole repertoire.

The party assembled for tea in the drawing-room.  Fendihook’s first words to Liosha were: 

“Hallo, my Balkan Queen, how have you been getting on?”

“Very well, thank you,” smiled Liosha.

He turned to Jaffery.  “She’s not up to her usual form to-day.  But sometimes she’s a fair treat!  I give you my word.”

He laughed loudly and winked.  Jaffery, whose agility in repartee was rather physical than mental, glowered at him, rumbled something unintelligible beneath his breath, and took tea out to Doria, who was established on the terrace.