"I say, old chap! Why have you never mentioned that you happened to meet a certain person in my room at Hanbridge that night you went over there for me?" He frowned.
Edwin had a thrill, pleasurable and apprehensive, at the prospect of a supreme confidence.
"It was no earthly business of mine," he answered lightly. But his tone conveyed: "You surely ought to be aware that my loyalty and my discretion are complete."
And Ingpen, replying to Edwin's tone, said with a simple directness that flattered Edwin to the heart:
"Naturally I knew I was quite safe in your hands.... I've reassured the lady." Ingpen smiled slightly.
Edwin was too proud to tell Ingpen that he had not said a word to Hilda, and Ingpen was too proud to tell Edwin that he assumed as much.
At that moment Hilda came into the room, murmuring a carol that some children of Stockbrook had sung on the doorstep during dinner.
"Don't be afraid--I'm not going to interrupt. I know you're in the thick of it," said she archly, not guessing how exactly truthful she was.
Ingpen, keeping his presence of mind in the most admirable manner, rejoined with irony:
"You don't mean to say you've finished already explaining to Mrs. Dummer how she ought to run my house for me!"