Max's fingers closed more firmly upon hers, so that without open resistance she could not free herself. "Noel seems to have developed into quite a picturesque cavalier," he observed impersonally.
He was watching her, she knew; and over her face there ran a great wave of colour. She was furiously aware of it even before she saw his faint smile. Desperately she sought to turn the subject.
"Why didn't you come back to us when the tiger was dead?" she said. "Why didn't you let Noel tell me you were there?"
She caught the old glint of mockery in his eyes as he made reply. "As you have foreseen, fair lady," he observed, "one answer will suffice for both questions. It was not my turn just then. Moreover, you knew I was there."
"I wasn't absolutely sure," she protested quickly. "I thought it probable that I had made a mistake."
"Didn't you expect to see me?" he asked her coolly.
She stared at him. "How could I? I never dreamed of your being in
India."
He passed the question by. "And yet you were the only person in India whom I took the trouble to inform of my arrival."
Her eyes widened. "What can you mean?"
"Didn't you get a message from me this morning?" he asked.