< previous page page_166 next page >

Page 166
bend in the middlefollowing Linda anxiously, maybe wagging its''
"Peter!" Mrs. Bates cut him off. "Control your imagination. We aren't getting any closer to Harriet's hand lotion. Perhaps you'd better go up yourself."
"No, Emmeline, there's no use in sending Peter or Donald. Men never see things. Rose-Anne, dear, would you"
"That's enough." The general's boom silenced not only Mrs. Sotheby but everyone in the immediate area. "If Linda says the lotion is not in your room, Harriet, it is not. We have been traveling for two weeks, and not once has any object been left in hotels or cabs. If the bottle of lotion is not in your dressing case, then it is in one of the valises."
There was a momentary silence. Mrs. Sothby did not look startled, frightened, or offended, which did not surprise Linda, who had been through similar scenes before. Mrs. Sotheby's brow creased in thought. Then she smiled.
"Why, I do believe you're right, Cecil. Now I remember. I wrapped the lotion in my night gloves because I use them together so it seemed logical that they should be packed together." She turned to Linda. "I'm sorry, my dear. It's true enough. You never forget anything."
Linda murmured some suitable reply, but her attention was mainly on Rose-Anne, who was staring at the general with astonishment. Her eyes went to her mother, then returned to the general. All she had said was, "I'm glad I don't

 
< previous page page_166 next page >