"It may be so," he admitted. "May I ask you something?"
"Well?"
"You speak—of yourself?"
Her eyes met his, and he looked hastily downwards.
"Absurd," she murmured, and inclined her head towards the billiard-table. "They have been—attached to one another always. Come over here to the window, and I will tell you something."
They walked towards the great circular window which overlooked the drive. As they stood there together a four-wheeled cab drove slowly by, and a girl leaned forward and looked at them. Brooks started as he recognized her.
"Why, that must be some one for me," he exclaimed, in a puzzled tone.
"Whatever can have happened to old Bullsom?"
She looked at him politely bewildered.
"It is the niece of a man whom I know very well in Medchester," he exclaimed. "Something must have happened to her uncle. It is most extraordinary."