But to my house, all through her schooldays and afterwards, Phyllis came, and on such occasions Mrs.Marigold prepared teas of the organic lusciousness dear to the heart of a healthy girl.
Now, here comes the point of all this palaver.

Young Master Randall used also to come to my house.

Now and then by chance they met there.
They were good boy and girl friends.
I want to make it absolutely clear that her acquaintance with Randall was not any vulgar picking-up-in-the-street affair.
When she left school, her father made her his book-keeper, secretary, confidential clerk.

Anybody turning into the office to summon Gedge to repair a roof or a burst boiler had a preliminary interview with Phyllis.

Young Randall, taking over the business of the upkeep of his mother's house, gradually acquired the habit of such preliminary interviews.