Hescott does not hear, or takes no notice of this little bombshell.
"Has your husband been unkind to you?" asks he sharply, most unpardonably.
Tita looks at him for a second as if he had struck her, and then waves him aside imperiously.
"Maurice is never unkind to me," says she, "and even if he were, I should not allow you or anyone to question me in the matter. What are you thinking of?"
"Of you," slowly.
"You waste your time," says Tita.
"It is not wasted. It is spent on you," says Hescott, with compressed but strong passion. "And now a last word, Tita. If ever you want to—to——" He hesitates. "To leave him," he had almost said, but her proud eyes and her pale lips made him hesitate—such pride! It raises his love for her to fever-heat. "If ever you should want anyone to help you, I——"
She interrupts him. She makes a haughty little gesture with hand. It would be impossible to describe the wild grace and beauty of it—or the dignity.
"If ever I should, I shall have Maurice!" says she coldly.
Hescott looks at her. Of course he has been told that old story about Mrs. Bethune, and has seen for himself many things.