At moments she tried--drove a smile to her lips
for him to see; but she felt that it did not convince him; knew that
it utterly failed to convince herself. When he began to speak about
Traill, it faded completely from her expression.
"Jack's gone to a theatre to-night, hasn't he?" he asked ingenuously,
when they had half struggled through the courses.
"Yes--"
"Duke of York's, isn't it?"
"Yes--I think it is."
He watched her closely, but her eyes were lowered persistently to
her plate, or wandering aimlessly from table to table, never meeting
his. The thought that this man might guess the running of the current
of events, stung her to some show of pride that yet was not keen enough,
not great enough in itself to master, even for the moment, the despair
within. All the making up for the part it lent; but the acting of
it was beyond her.
"You've met his sister, Mrs. Durlacher--haven't you?" he asked
presently.
She saw no motive in this. She felt thankful for it--glad to be able
to say that she had.
"She was at Prince's the other day when I was there and she told me
that Jack had taken you down to Apsley."
"Yes, I went down with him in April.
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