Tastefully and simply dressed, she looked, if anything, more beautiful than ever, but not so bright and restless; Jack noticed that. There was an undefinable change about her, just as if she had gone through some trouble, or had done battle with some grief.
Suddenly she looked round and saw him, and stopped; one hand holding a chair, her face going from white to crimson.
Jack rose.
“I’ve startled you; I’m very sorry.”
Lady Bell recovered herself, and went to him with outstretched hand and a look in her dark eyes that she tried to keep out of them.
“Jack,” she said, almost involuntarily.
“Yes, it’s I; like the bad penny, back again, Lady Bell.”
And he sat down and laughed.
She sank into a chair beside him, and looked at his careworn face.
“Where have you been?” she asked, softly.