[pg 43] "But you will get very wet! Let us make a compromise! You may come with me. I am going only a very little distance, and then you can take the cab on to your home, or wherever you want to go to." She stepped in, taking it for granted that he would accept her offer, and he followed her at once. He was not in the least surprised. From the first he had not expected to leave her, and her invitation seemed perfectly natural to him. She gave the cabman her address through the trap-door, and they drove off together. At the corner of the square, two men were standing together talking, and as the hansom passed within a yard or two of them both glanced idly in, and then started. [pg 44] Paul, who had been looking straight ahead of him, and seeing nothing, turned round, startled by a familiar exclamation, just in time to see his brother Arthur, and Leslie Horton, gazing after the cab. The incident troubled him, as much for her sake as his own. But, looking into her face, he could not see that she was in any way disturbed, although she must have seen the two men, and would probably have recognised them as having been present at Lady Swindon's reception. Her face was quite unmoved, but in a moment or two she asked a question. [pg 44] "Who was the younger and better looking of those two men; the one with violets in his coat, like yours?" "It was my brother," he answered simply. "I am afraid, too, that he recognised you." "So far as I am concerned, that is of no consequence at all," she answered lightly. He turned away with a sudden sinking of the heart. He knew, too well, that her carelessness was not assumed. How was he to interpret it? Their drive was finished in silence, and they pulled up before a handsome, though somewhat sombre-looking house in a back street. "My rooms are here," she remarked. He stepped on to the pavement, and assisted her [pg 45] to alight. The thought of leaving her so abruptly was painful to him, and yet he dreaded to hear her invite him to go in with her; nevertheless, she did so.
Prev.
Back
Top