"
"I--how?"
"By marrying me first and adoring me afterwards."
They had finished tea and were no longer preoccupied with cups and
saucers. It was very bright in the room, very silent. Lord Holme looked
at his wife and remembered how much she was admired by other men, how
many men would give--whatever men are ready to give--to see her as she
was just then. It occurred to him that he would have been rather a fool
if he had yielded to his violent impulse and shut her out of the house
the previous night.
"You're never to speak to that cad again," he said. "D'you hear?"
"Whisper it close in my ear and I'll try to hear. Your voice is
so--what's your expression--so infernally soft."
He put his great arm round her.
"D'you hear?"
"I'm trying."
"I'll make you."
Whether Lord Holme succeeded or not, Lady Holme had no opportunity--even
if she desired it--of speaking to Rupert Carey for some time. He left
London and went up to the North to stay with his mother. The only person
he saw before he went was Robin Pierce. He came round to Half Moon Street
early on the afternoon of the day after the Arkell House Ball. Robin was
at home and Carey walked in with his usual decision. He was very pale,
and his face looked very hard. Robin received him coldly and did not ask
him to sit down. That was not necessary, of course. But Robin was
standing by the door and did not move back into the room.
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