Chapter 16 Summary

Leonard Bast accepts the Schlegel girls' invitation to tea but unfortunately, the visit does not go as either party had hoped. Meg and Helen are intent on bringing Leonard around to the subject of his employment when all he wants is to discuss books and ideas. Therefore, finally, they are forced to tell Leonard what they had heard; that his company is going under and he should find another job elsewhere as soon as he could. Leonard replies that he is not in the routine of following idle gossip and passes it off. The girls keep forcing the issue for his sake, and thankfully, Mr. Wilcox and his daughter Evie, who brings a couple of puppies she has bred, interrupt them. At that intrusion, Mr. Bast can see that his time of discussing higher things had ended even before it started and he...