"
His heart gave a sudden thump. Was it possible--but no! She would
not stoop to anything like that. The little thrill of exultation
departed as quickly as it came.
"Tire trouble, perhaps," he ventured.
Tea was being brought in when the belated guests arrived. Courtney,
spurred by the brief vision of success ahead, was never in better
form, never more entertaining, never so well provided with polite
cynicisms. Later on, when he and Alix were alone and he was putting
on his raincoat in the hall, she said to him impulsively:
"I don't know what I should have done without you, Mr. Thane. You
were splendid. I was in no mood to be nice or agreeable to anybody."
"Alas!" he sighed. "That shows how unobserving I am. I could have
sworn you were in a perfectly adorable mood."
"Well, I wasn't," she said stubbornly. "I was quite horrid."
"Has anything happened to--to distress you, Miss Crown?" he inquired
anxiously. His voice was husky and a trifle unsteady. "Can't you
tell me? Sometimes it helps to--"
"Nothing has happened," she interrupted nervously. "I was--just
stupid, that's all."
"When am I to see you again?" he asked, after a perceptible pause.
"May I come tonight?"
"Not tonight," she said, shaking her head.
She gave no reason,--nothing more than the two little words,--and
yet he went away exulting. He walked home through the light, gusty
rain, so elated that he forgot to use his cane,--and he had limped
quite painfully earlier in the afternoon, complaining of the
dampness and chill.
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