Stephen looked up.
“And yet a little while ago they were saying that she would be married before the year was out.”
“Indeed!” said Una.
“It would be a grand match for any one,” said Stephen. “It would have been a great match for him.”
“For him?” said Una. “Who was it?”
Stephen started and looked embarrassed, as if he had made a slip of the tongue.
“Well,” he said, with a little, awkward laugh; “but—are you jealous? Perhaps I ought not to tell tales out of school, though the affair is off long ago, and he has made a happier choice.”
Una put the fire screen on one side and looked at him calmly. He was sitting almost at her feet. Mrs. Davenant was dozing in her accustomed arm-chair.
“Of whom do you speak?” she asked.
Stephen hesitated, as if reluctant to reply.