"Does she?" said Nicholas, in a surprised voice. "I must say I haven't noticed that. I always think she's rather shy."
It was quite true that Doris was nearly always rather silent when Nicholas was with Lily, although Lily did not believe that she was at all shy. She seemed, indeed, to be more nearly sulky than shy, at such times.
But she always listened attentively to what Nicholas said, and glanced at him from time to time out of the corners of her small, blue-green eyes.
One evening when Nicholas was alone with Lily he told her that Doris had been telling him something about her life, during their tête-à-tête dinner.
"She's had a very hard time, Lily, mind you. I think it's wonderful it hasn't made her in the least bitter, poor child."
Lily saw that Nicholas's rather facile sympathies had been roused. She felt vaguely surprised.
"Did she tell you about her engagement, and why it was broken off?"
"She did. I suppose she's confided it all to you, long ago?"
"No. She's mentioned several times that she was once engaged, but she's never told me why she didn't get married."
"I daresay she's very reserved," said Nicholas. His tone betrayed a slight sense of flattery at having received a unique confidence. "I don't know quite why she told me about it, but I suppose she saw that I was interested. I suppose that was it."