"Bring me a time-table," he roared. "And bring it quick."
CHAPTER XXVIII
THE GREY SHADOW
The ball-room at White Windows was all in readiness for the forthcoming
dance. The floor, waxed and polished till it was as smooth as a sheet
of gleaming ice, caught and held the tremulous reflections of a hundred
flickering lights, whilst from above, where the orchestra was snugly tucked
away in the gallery behind a bank of flowers, came faint pizzicato sounds
of fiddles tuning up, alternating with an occasional little flourish or
tentative roulade of notes.
The dance was not timed to begin for half an hour or more, but the members
of the house-party had congregated together at the upper end of the room
and were chatting desultorily. Sir Philip Brabazon and Tony were included
amongst them, in addition to a couple of pretty girls, nieces of Lady
Susan, and three or four stray men who had been invited down to swell the
ranks.
"And how's Ann?" demanded Sir Philip of his hostess.
"Ann? Oh, you'll find her a trifle thinner, I think, that's all," responded
Lady Susan discreetly. To her own eyes Ann seemed to have altered wofully
in the course of the last few months, but she reasoned that Sir Philip was
no more observant than the majority of men and that if she prepared him
for the fact that Ann was somewhat thinner than of old he would accept
the change quite naturally and not worry the girl herself with tiresome
questions as to the cause of such a falling off.
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