“With another man....”
Reluctantly he brought the words out after her: “With another man.”
“With Hylton Davies....”
“Hylton Davies....”
“And travelled with him—for nearly two years.”
He frowned, but immediately fetched a sigh of relief. “Oh, well—abroad. And he’s dead.” He glanced at her cautiously, and then added: “He’s not a man that many people remember.”
But she insisted: “After that....—”
Mr. Landers lifted his hand in a gesture of reassurance; the cloud was lifted from his brow. “After that, we all know what your life was. You’ll forgive my putting it bluntly: but your living in that quiet way—all these years—gradually produced a change of opinion ... told immensely in your favour. Even among the Clephane relations ... especially those who had glimpses of you abroad ... or heard of you when they were there. Some of the family distinctly disapproved of—of John’s attitude; his persistent refusal ... yes, the Tresseltons even, and the Drovers—I know they all did what they could—especially Enid Drover—”
Her blood rushed up and the pulses drummed in her temples. “If I cry,” she thought, “it will upset him—” but the tears rose in a warm gush about her heart.
“Enid Drover? I never knew—”