ad never said
before.

'W-what a beastly mess!'

Then he shoved a space for himself on the table, among glasses and
papers, and began to make pictures for _Marchese Peppino_.

It was about this time, early in March, that the Crevequers took to
quarrelling. It was a thing not usual with them, because they liked, of
all things, a pleasant harmony. Rows, as they observed, made them feel
ill. But at this time they developed a new touchiness; possibly Lent was
partly accountable. Tommy wrangled with his editor, disputed truculently
with the good-tempered Luli, assumed a mien of impertinent defiance
towards his more urgent creditors, and snapped at Betty, who snapped
back, and then they would stammer rude and unpleasant comments on each
other for a minute or two--it took them longer to quarrel than it takes
people who can fling their remarks unhaltingly straight from the
lips--until one or other was ashamed and said:

'D-dry up.'

They quarrelled once about _Marchese Peppino_. Betty referred to it to
Warren Venables, who, as usual, did not pursue the subject with
enthusiasm. When Venables had left them, Tommy, sitting on the table
with his hands in his pockets, looked down at his sister rather moodily.

'Wish you'd let my shop alone, Betty. Venables doesn't care a hang about
it--can't you see?'

The surprise in Betty's melancholy eyes testified to the rarity of the
ill-tempered tone; particularly it was rare from one of them to the
other.

'Well--what does it matter, though?'

Tommy was frowning.

'It does. It bores him to hear about it. It doesn't amuse him; he
doesn't think it's funny--and it's not particularly--and w-what's the
good of making bores of ourselves?'

Betty regarded him thoughtfully.

'I don't think he's so easily bored as all that, you know.'

Tommy remained gloomy.

A curious element had come, just of late, into his relations with
Venables--the element of embarrassment. How it began he could not have
said, nor whence it sprang. It was unfortunate, as they saw so extremely
much of Venables. More and more Tommy left him to Betty, refusing to
make a third in their expeditions and amusements. Yet he liked Venables;
he liked him as much as he had liked him at first, when the meeting face
to face had carried him back curiously to the old days of school
hero-worship. Now, for the last few weeks, he had become growingly
silent in his presence; the difficulty of conversation made him rather
angry;