“Pa and Lyd,” she said suddenly in a silence.  Her tone was sufficiently odd to arrest their immediate attention.  “Pa—­Lyd—­I went in to see Clifford this afternoon, and told him that I wanted to—­to break our engagement!”

An amazed silence followed.  Teddy, chewing steadily on raisin cookies, turned his eyes smilingly to his mother.  He didn’t quite understand, but whatever she did was all right.  Malcolm settled his glasses with one lean, dark hand, and stared at his daughter.  Lydia gave a horrified gasp, and looked quickly from her father to her sister:  a look that was intended to serve the purpose of a fuse.

“How do you mean?” Malcolm asked painfully, at last.

“Well!” said Lydia, whose one fear was that she would not be able to fully express herself upon this outrage.

“I mean that I—­I don’t truly feel that I love him,” Martie said, fitting her phraseology to her audience.  “I respect him, of course, and I like him, but—­but as the time came nearer, I couldn’t feel—­”

Her voice dropped in an awful silence.

“You certainly waited some time to make up your mind, Martie,” said her father then, catching vaguely for a weapon and using it at random.

“But, Martie, what’s your reason?” Lydia overflowed suddenly.  “What earthly reason can you have—­you can’t just say that you don’t want to, now—­you can’t just suddenly—­I never heard of anything so—­so inconsiderate!  Why, what do you suppose everybody—­”

“This is some of your heady nonsense, Martie,” said her father’s heavy voice, drowning down Lydia’s clatter.  “This is just the sort of mischief I expected to follow a visit from men as entirely irresponsible as these New York friends of yours.  I expected something of this sort.  Just as you are about to behave like a sensible woman, they come along to upset you—­”

“Exactly!” Lydia added, quivering.  “I never said a word to you, Pa,” she went on hurriedly, “but I noticed it!  I think it’s perfectly amazing that you should; of course it’s that!  Martie listened to him, and Martie walked with him, and several people noticed it, and spoke to me about it!  It’s none of my business, of course, and I’m not going to interfere, but all I can say is this, if Martie Monroe plays fast and loose with a man like Cliff Frost, it will hurt us in this village more than she has any idea!  What are people going to think, that’s all!  I certainly hope you will use your authority to bring her to her senses—­just a few days before the wedding, with everybody expecting—­”

“Perhaps you will tell me what Clifford thinks of this astonishing decision?” Malcolm asked, again interrupting Lydia’s wild rush of words.

“Cliff was very generous, Pa.  He feels that it is only a passing feeling, and that I must have time to think things over if I want it,” Martie began.

“Ha!  I should think so!” Lydia interpolated scornfully.