“Is it something I can see now?” she asked, looking directly at him.
“You’re asking him twice,” Martin said. “It’s my turn.”
Why did her mind keep straying away? Standing in the middle of the circle, she could feel them surrounding her, desiring her to divine this thing. Perhaps it was something she didn’t want to guess, something that would mean——
She repeated the question, looking at Martin this time.
“No,” he said, smiling.
Her mind was a blank. She went round the group again, asking almost at random. The succession of No’s had a curiously numbing effect. But she knew, without having put the question directly, that it was something connected with Martin.
She came to Ben, on the last time round. She stared at his white canvas shoes, trying to think.
“Is it ... is it——”
She turned away from the strong scent of his cigar. The glimmer of coloured light on the dining-room table caught and held her. It suggested:
“Something to do with a cake?”