He began again.
"I er--I hope you have had a--a pleasant time. I er--I hope you are
well. I hope you are extremely--I hope extremely--extremely--" And
again he stopped in the midst of his floundering, not knowing how to
progress beyond "extremely," and unable to understand why the infernal
word kept getting into his mouth.
"I beg your pardon?" Lucy said.
George was never more furious; he felt that he was "making a spectacle
of himself"; and no young gentleman in the world was more loath than
George Amberson Minafer to look a figure of fun. And while he stood
there, undeniably such a figure, with Janie and Mary Sharon
threatening to burst at any moment, if laughter were longer denied
them. Lucy sat looking at him with her eyebrows delicately lifted in
casual, polite inquiry. Her own complete composure was what most
galled him.
"Nothing of the slightest importance!" he managed to say. "I was just
leaving. Good afternoon!" And with long strides he reached the door
and hastened through the hall; but before he closed the front door he
heard from Janie and Mary Sharon the outburst of wild, irrepressible
emotion which his performance had inspired.
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