If Adrien married Constance, Ada
Lester would--whether with or without cause--hold him responsible, and
was more than capable of carrying out her threat to unmask him to his
patron. Moreover, Jasper looked upon Lady Constance with an appreciative
and covetous eye, and felt that if he could ever ingratiate himself with
her sufficiently for her to promise to become his wife, the summit of
his ambition would be reached.
Adrien was easily deceived; for, with all his faults, he was not
conceited. He did not guess that Constance's very openly expressed
pleasure in the company of Lord Standon was to prevent the discovery of
her real and passionate longing for that of her cousin.
Henceforth, he told himself, he must do his best to hide the pain that
was gnawing at his heart. Henceforward, the pleasure of life would be as
Dead Sea fruit to him. His hand fell on the balustrade in his
unconscious despair; and at that moment, another window farther down the
long balcony opened, and the figure of Lord Barminster stepped out into
the moonlight.
Adrien was in no humour to meet even his father; he was too weary in
spirit to confront the old man's satire with his usual calm; so he
shrank back into the shadow of the buttress against which he leaned.
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