“Are you busy?” Barth asked, as he joined her, a little later.
“Am I ever busy in this indolent atmosphere?” she questioned in return, with a futile effort for her usual careless manner.
“Sometimes, as far as I am concerned. But what if we come into the drawing-room? It is quieter there.”
He spoke gently, yet withal there was something masterful in his manner, and Nancy felt that her hour was come. Nervously she tried to anticipate it.
“And you need a quiet place for the scene of the fray?” she asked flippantly.
“Fray?” His accent was interrogative.
“For the discussion, then.”
He was moving a chair forward. Then he looked up sharply, as he stood aside for her to take it.
“I can’t see that there is reason for any discussion, Miss Howard.”
“But you know you think I have been playing a double game with you,” Nancy broke out, in sudden irritation at his quiet.