"Oh! Precisely!" Jervaise said.

"But how extraordinary!" replied Miss Banks.

"Is she here?" asked Jervaise. He ought to have snapped that out
viciously, and I believe that was his intention. But Anne's exquisitely
innocent, absorbed gaze undid him; and his question had rather the sound
of an apology.

"No, certainly not! Why ever should she come here?" Anne said with
precisely the right nuance of surprise.

"Is your brother here?"

"No!"

It looks such an absurd little inexpressive word on paper, but Anne made a
song of it on two notes, combining astonishment with a sincerity that was
absolutely final. If, after that, Jervaise had dared to say, "Are you
sure?" I believe I should have kicked him.

How confounded he was, was shown by the change of attitude evident in his
next speech.

"It's horribly awkward," he said.

"Oh! horribly," Anne agreed, with a charming sympathy. "What are you going
to do?"

"You see, we can't find your brother, either," Jervaise tried tactfully.