Nell listened with surprise at first; then she began to feel amused, and laughed.
He drew a chair near her and bent toward her, lowering his voice and speaking in an impressive tone quite unusual with him. To the casual observer it might well have seemed that they were carrying on a desperate flirtation; but every now and then he paused absently, and presently he rose almost abruptly and went into an anteroom.
An antique table with writing materials stood in a recess. He wrote something rapidly on a half sheet of note paper, and placing it inside a book, laid the volume on the pedestal of a Sèvres vase standing near the table.
When he left Nell, Lady Wolfer crossed over to her.
"Sir Archie has been amusing you, dear?" she said, casually enough; but the smile which accompanied the remark did not harmonize with the unsmiling and anxious eyes.
"Oh, yes," said Nell, laughing. "He has been talking the most utter nonsense."
"He—he is very strange to-night," said Lady Wolfer, biting her lip softly. Not to innocent Nell could she even hint that Sir Archie had taken more wine than was good for him. "He has been talking utter nonsense to me. Did you notice the flower in his coat?"
"No," said Nell, with some surprise. "Why?"
Lady Wolfer laughed unnaturally.
"Nothing. Yes! Nell, I want you to get that flower from him. It—is a bet."