Perhaps Lady Susan's face had expressed more than she knew, for Tony,
perceiving that she attached some special importance to the matter, looked
suddenly anxious.
"I say, I've not been giving Ann away, have I?" he demanded in honest
consternation. "I made sure she'd told you all about it by this time. I
never thought--"
"Don't worry," Lady Susan reassured him hastily. "You're not giving her
away. She did tell me--all about it."
When she returned home she had taken her courage in both hands and written
to Eliot asking him to come back. And to-night, doubtful whether her letter
had reached him in time to allow of his returning for the dance, totally
ignorant of the reception it would receive, and uncertain even as to how
Ann would welcome him if he actually did return, she was on tenterhooks of
nervousness and anxiety.
"You do grow thinner in the winter, you know," she continued airily to Sir
Philip, unwisely elaborating her comment upon Ann's appearance.
"You don't," contradicted the old man with his usual acerbity. "You grow
fatter if you've any sense--to keep the cold out." He glared at her, then
demanded abruptly: "How do you think Tony's looking?"
Lady Susan's dark eyes rested thoughtfully a moment on Tony's face before
she answered.
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