“And for Monsieur?”
Tavernake glanced at his watch; it was already ten o'clock.
“I will take the same,” he declared.
“And to drink?”
She seemed indifferent.
“Any light wine,” she answered, carelessly, “white or red.”
Tavernake took up the wine list and ordered sauterne. They were left alone in their corner for a few minutes, almost the only occupants of the place.
“You are sure that you can afford this?” she asked, looking at him critically. “It may cost you a sovereign or thirty shillings.”
He studied the prices on the menu.
“I can afford it quite well and I have plenty of money with me,” he assured her, “but I do not think that it will cost more than eighteen shillings. While we are waiting for the sole, shall we talk? I can tell you, if you choose to hear, why I followed you from the boardinghouse.”