midday
Do you think they 've brought their lunch with them , or shall we send them some ? '' `` I expect they 've got their dinners in red pocket-handkerchiefs , hidden away somewhere at the back . '' `` Except my Greek '' -- with a little smile -- `` and I 'm sure his is in a Liberty silk square . '' They sat down to lunch in the big , oppressive dining-room alone , as their chaperon , Aunt Emily , was laid up with a headache , and Mr. Henry Pym , Meryl 's father , was usually in the City at midday . And after lunch , for the sake of something to do , they ordered the motor and drove out to Ranelagh to see the polo . Then came dinner , and with it in quiet , unsuspected guise the news that would presently change their lives . Henry Pym , a small , dark man , with the keen eyes and quiet manner that so often go with success , told them that because there would be practically no London season at all that year he had decided to go back to Africa , and he would take a country house for them anywhere they liked and leave them there for the summer with Aunt Emily .