Also, as far as I could see, she wore the same tea-gown I had always seen her in; she sat in the same chair in front of the same fire; she had before her the same tea equipage; she might have been pouring the same tea.
The transition from the necessary questions as to my personal experiences and wounds to that of the exact relations between Mrs. Hartlepool and Gen. Lord Birkenhead was an easy one. Disappointed that I had spent two years at the front and had heard nothing of the delicate situation between these distinguished persons, of which an amazing mass of contradictory detail had reached certain circles in New York, she turned the conversation on what was really the matter in hand.
“So you came over on the same boat as Regina?”
Unable to deny this statement, I admitted its truth. The dusky ripples played over Annette’s round features, giving them a somber vivacity.
“Did she tell you anything?”
“Yes; a good many things.”
“Anything special, I mean?”
“Everything she said was special, as far as I can remember.”
She tried another avenue.
“You’ve gone back to your old quarters, haven’t you?”