I thought
you might find it a bit lonely, and so, as I'd taken you out to dinner
before"--he raised his eyes, finishing the sentence with a smile and
lifting eyebrows. "Were you going out to dinner now?" he added,
before she had time to reply.
"Yes, I was."
"Then will you come with me?"
She met his gaze with frank speculation. What did it matter where
she went? Who was there to care? Janet, the only one, would urge her
to it if she knew. There was no doubt in her mind that friendship
had prompted him. It was a considerate thought on his part to come
and offer to take her out because he had imagined she might be lonely.
She felt grateful to him, but with no desire to show it. If it pleased
him to be generous on her behalf, why should she refuse to profit
by it? But here was no thought of giving in return. A woman seldom
meets but one man in the world to whom she will give without a shadow
of the desire for the value in return. What was there in the world
now to prevent her from taking what life offered of its small,
distracting pleasures? A moment of recklessness brought a deceptive
lift to her spirits.
"I shall be very glad to," she said.
In her mind was no unfaithfulness to the memory of Traill.
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