“But you are interested—in his companion.”
Wolfenden frowned.
“I think,” he said, “that we will leave the lady out of the conversation.”
Felix sighed.
“You are a good fellow,” he said; “but, forgive me, like all your countrymen, you carry chivalry just a thought too far—even to simplicity. You do not understand such people and their ways.”
Wolfenden was getting angry, but he held himself in check.
“You know nothing against her,” he said slowly.
“It is true,” Felix answered. “I know nothing against her. It is not necessary. She is his creature. That is apparent. The shadow of his wickedness is enough.”
Wolfenden checked himself in the middle of a hot reply. He was suddenly conscious of the absurdity of losing his temper in the open street with a man so obviously ill-balanced—possessed, too, of such strange and wild impulses.
“Let us talk,” he said, “of something else, or say good-morning. Which way were you going?”