The historical allusions dazed her; the explanation ended on a date.
She was sorry she had ventured, for it made her feel so ignorant.
'Shuggairnort,' she repeated bravely. She had a vague idea he had not
properly heard before.
But this time he caught 'Argonaut,' and swamped her then with
classical exposition, during which she never took her eyes off him,
and decided that he was far more wonderful than she had ever dreamed.
He was; but not for the reasons she supposed.
'Thank you,' she said with meek gratitude at the end, 'I thank you.'
'Il n'y a pas de quar,' replied Daddy, bowing; and the adventure came
to an end. The others luckily had not heard it in full swing; they
only caught the final phrase with which he said adieu. But it served
its unwitting purpose admirably. It brought him back to the world
about him. The spell was broken. All turned upon him instantly.
'Snay pas un morsow de bong.' Monkey copied his accent, using a
sentence from a schoolboy's letter in _Punch_. 'It's not a bit of
good.' Mother squelched her with a look, but Daddy, even if he noticed
it, was not offended. Nothing could offend him to-night. Impertinence
turned silvery owing to the way he took it. There was a marvellous
light and sweetness about him. 'He _is_ on air,' decided Mother
finally.
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