They scarcely spoke during the drive, and she kept her face averted. Only when he held out his hand to assist her to alight she met his eye for an instant and wondered vaguely at the look he gave her.
The party was a large one; the lawns were crowded. Nina took the first opportunity that offered to slip away from him, for she felt hopelessly ill at ease in his company. The sensation of being watched that had oppressed her during her brief honeymoon had reawakened.
Archie presently joined her.
"Did I see the hero of the Crawley gold field just now?" he asked. "Or was it hallucination?"
Nina looked at him with a very bored expression.
"Oh, yes, my husband is here," she said. "I suppose you had better not stay with me or he will come up and be rude to you."
Archie chuckled.
"Not he! We understand one another," he said lightly. "But, I say, what an impostor the fellow is! Everyone knows about Dr. Wade, but no one connects him in the smallest degree with Hereford Wingarde. It shouldn't be allowed to go on. You ought to tell the town-crier."
Nina tried to laugh, but it was a somewhat dismal effort.
"Come along!" said Archie cheerily. "There's my mother over there; she has been wondering where you were."