"Now he tells me to hold my tongue. And yet I am glad for one thing. That girl will not have him for a husband."
"Glad! Why, Baron, don't you see——"
"Yes, I see. Still I am glad."
"I can't go on talking about it; but is there no hope?"
"Where is it? For the time—mind you for the time—he is under that other woman's power."
"She's under his, you mean."
"I mean both. She was a friend of yours. Yes. She is not altogether a bad woman; but she has had a bad fortune. Ah, there she is, and he with her."
As he spoke, Mrs. Dennison and Ruston came by. Mrs. Dennison flung them a glance of recognition; it was hardly more, and even for so much she seemed to grudge the interruption. Ruston's greeting was more ceremonious; he smiled, but his brows contracted a little, and he said to his companion,
"Miss Ferrars isn't pleased with me."
"That hurts?" she asked lightly.