CHAPTER XII.
Danger-Signals.
Pearl was very silent and very pale during dinner. As for Amy, she simply waited, for she knew that in time her cousin must speak.
She was nevertheless hardly prepared for the manner in which the conversation at length opened.
The peaches were being handed round, when Pearl, glancing suddenly at the girl opposite to her, asked abruptly:--
"Amy, how was it that you went with Lord--with that man to-day--so far from home?"
"I was taking a walk with him," replied Amy quietly.
"It seems to me that you accompany him very frequently in his walks, Amy. Ralph said the other day that he saw much less of you now-a-days than formerly, your time being so greatly engrossed by Lord Martinworth. This sounds very strange to me, considering the circumstances, and I think, dear, if you will forgive my saying so, you are playing rather a dangerous game."
Amy Mendovy did not reply for a minute, while she made little heaps on the table with her bread crumbs.