And this time she didn't even give it a chance to register who the caller was; it had no more begun to make noise than she was answering it.

In deference to his schedule, of course. While talking to her clearly outweighed anything else he could have planned, it was polite of her to not let him miss dinner or whatever might be happening.

"Hello, my darling," she said. "How lovely to hear from you. I trust my poetry reading didn't interrupt anything too important?"