Bewit, requesting the pleasure of his presence for a late-season boating-party at the Jepps’s. Hallux’s name was not included. The funny thing was, if it had been, he wouldn’t have gone—Hallux openly detested the water and everything on, under, or beside it—but its absence was a surefire way to secure his interest, as well as deeply annoy him. That was why Mr. Bewit, demonstrating remarkably good sense, pocketed the missive quick as he could, while Hallux was absorbed in his own correspondence. Neither did he mention the engagement before departing—he even met his carriage in the carriage house, instead of in front of his own.But no secret is long kept in a house with many servants.Hallux learned of the snub that very day, and it made him furious. When Mr. Bewit and Tom returned home, he was still in high dudgeon though it was late, and his temper was not improved when his cousin refused to admit he had erred in attending a gathering which had, in Hallux’s words, “particularly and unconscionably excluded his own flesh and blood.”
