I tried to read her face. It was not quite inscrutable. I had that irritating sensation of believing I was very near to the knowledge of her thoughts; near, yet far enough away to be utterly unable to translate them. It was almost safe to suppose that she knew I had been to meet Clarissa. But how could she possibly realize all that had happened? So I stood there silent for a moment, waiting while I considered how far I could decoy her from the truth. I did not know then, so well as I know now, that the truth itself is the only thing with which to mislead a woman's intuition. All that lies behind deception she can so easily detect. It is the truth behind the truth which confuses her.
"Is anything the matter?" she repeated, gently; and then I was forced to such strategy as I was capable of. How could I tell her what had happened? God knows I had been fool enough to try; but my folly, now that I had failed, was not the sort to be softened by sympathy. A fool and his money may soon be parted. It is his folly which clings to him, and not the gentlest fingers in the world can ease him of his load.
"There's nothing the matter," said I. "Perhaps I'm tired. I got up early this morning."
She looked down at me with those generous, straight eyes of hers, and she said: "Then you won't tell me?"
"If there were anything the matter," I began, "I can think of no one—"
I looked up to conclude my sentence, but she had gone. The window was empty. Over a matter of this sort evidently she would waste no time. No doubt she was quite right. My saying that nothing was the matter meant that I had no intention of telling her and, it being only men who throw time away upon curiosity—and that mainly by asking questions—she had let me talk to myself rather than listen to my useless evasions. So, at least, I understood her sudden departure, therefore I, too, turned away, and Cruikshank joined me.
"After lunch," said he, "I shall begin bedding out my stocks."
"After lunch?" said I. "In London they only think up to a meal. I don't think I'll have any lunch at all."
He took me by the arm.
"Appetite going?" he inquired, sympathetically.