He turned away, with an enigmatic smile at his wife and a ceremonious bow to Wingate, and closed the door behind him carefully. They heard his retreating footsteps on the stairs; then Wingate resumed his seat by Josephine's side.
"Do you mind?" he asked.
"Not a scrap," she replied. "Besides, it has given Henry such immense pleasure. I am quite sure that he never believed it possible that I should be found holding another man's hand. Or," she went on, with a little grimace, "that any other man would want to hold it."
"It is possible," Wingate said deliberately, "that your husband may have further surprises of that nature in store for him."
She laughed. "Is that a threat?"
"If you like to regard it as such. You will find out before long that I am a terribly persistent person."
"I wonder," she remarked thoughtfully, "what could have made him so extraordinarily agreeable to you."
"To tell you the truth, I was surprised," Wingate replied. "And Peter Phipps, too! What can they want with me down at Throgmorton Street? They can't imagine that they can hustle me into the market?"
"Henry was very much in earnest," she told him.
Wingate's face darkened for a moment.