He waited until he saw them leave the box, and he hastened so as to be in the dressing-room with them. Standing nearer to her, he would surely be able to judge.
"Are you cold, my darling?" asked Earle, as he saw her drawing the hood of her opera-cloak over her head.
"The house was warm," she replied, in a low voice.
No movement of her enemy was lost upon her. She knew that he was close to her, that the fragrance of her flowers reached him; she saw that he pushed his way even nearer, and stood where he could have touched her. He looked intently at her. Her face was shaded and softened by the crimson hood.
Once she looked around, as though curious to see who was near her; then her eyes met his—quietly, coldly, without the least light, or recognition, or shadow of fear in them. She looked at him for one half moment, indifferently, as she glanced at every one else, then looked away again, leaving him more puzzled than ever.
CHAPTER LXIII.
LORD VIVIANNE PERPLEXED.
It was no wonder that when she reached Hyde House again Lady Studleigh should look ill and exhausted; she had passed through a severe ordeal, and no one but herself knew what it had cost her.
"One more such victory," she said to herself, "and I should be undone."
She lay back in one of the lounging-chairs, while Earle hastened to pour out some wine for her.