"Party says it's urgent, miss," prompted the servant.
I apologized to my hostess, and rose. There seemed no other course
open to me. Mrs. Morris looked mildly amused; her son looked
thoughtful as he, too, rose and accompanied me across the dining-room
to the door, returning then to the table, as I insisted that he must.
In the telephone-booth the voice of Grace Morris came to me over the
wire, not languid now, but quick and imperative.
"Miss Iverson?" she called. "Is that you at last? Thank Heaven! I
thought you were never coming. Are mother and Godfrey still in the
dining-room? Good! Will you do me a favor? It's a big one--vital."