Such a kitchen ! Alexander Abraham opened the door -- which was locked -- just as a buggy containing two men drove into the yard . `` Too late ! '' he exclaimed in a tragic tone . I understood that something dreadful must have happened , but I did not care , since , as I fondly supposed , it did not concern me . I pushed out past Alexander Abraham -- who was looking as guilty as if he had been caught burglarizing -- and came face to face with the man who had sprung from the buggy . It was old Dr. Blair , from Carmody , and he was looking at me as if he had found me shoplifting . `` My dear Peter , '' he said gravely , `` I am VERY sorry to see you here -- very sorry indeed . '' I admit that this exasperated me . Besides , no man on earth , not even my own family doctor , has any right to `` My dear Peter '' me ! `` There is no loud call for sorrow , doctor , '' I said loftily . `` If a woman , forty-eight years of age , a member of the Presbyterian church in good and regular standing , can not call upon one of her Sunday School scholars without wrecking all the proprieties , how old must she be before she can ? '' The doctor did not answer my question . Instead , he looked reproachfully at Alexander Abraham . `` Is this how you keep your word , Mr. Bennett ? '' he said . `` I thought that you promised me that you would not let anyone into the house . '' `` I did n't let her in , '' growled Mr. Bennett . `` Good heavens , man , she climbed in at an upstairs window , despite the presence on my grounds of a policeman and a dog ! What is to be done with a woman like that ? ''
`` I do not understand what all this means , '' I said addressing myself to the doctor and ignoring Alexander Abraham entirely , `` but if my presence here is so extremely inconvenient to all concerned , you can soon be relieved XXXXX it .
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