mischievous eye. She was, he noticed, not nearly
so made up as she had been the previous day at the
Pino d'Oro.
She gave him a cocktail and said with a twinkle:
PROBLEM AT POLLENSA BAY 91
"You're in on the big bust-up?"
Mr. Parker Pyne nodded.
"And whose side are you on, big boy? The
young lovers--or the disapproving dame?"
"May I ask you a question?"
"Certainly."
"Have you been very tactful over all this?"
"Not at all," said Miss Gregg frankly. "But the
old cat put mY back up" (she glanced round to
make sure that Basil was out of earshot). "That
woman just ma
kes me feel mad. She's kept Basil
tied to her apron strings all these years--that sort
of thing makes a man look a fool. Basil isn't a fool
really. Then she's so terribly pukka sahib."
"That's not really such a bad thing. It's merely
'unfashionable' just at present."
Betty Gregg gave a sudden twinkle.
"You mean it's like putting Chippendale chairs
in the attic in Victorian days? Later you get them
down again and say, 'Aren't they marvelous?'" "Something o if the kind."
Betty Gregg considered.
"Perhaps you're right. I'll be honest. It was
Basil who put my back up--being so anxious
about what impression I'd make on his mother. It