"You wouldn't have set her free?" Max flung the question with brief contempt.
"No!" Noel flung back the answer fiercely.
"Not if you had known she cared for me first?" Max's voice was suddenly quiet and chill. It expressed a cold curiosity, no more.
Noel writhed before it. "Confound you, no!" he cried violently.
There fell a sudden deep silence. Max stood quite motionless during the passage of seconds, watching, waiting, while Noel stood before him, fiercely threatening.
Then, very abruptly, as if he had suddenly discovered that there was nothing to wait for, he turned on his heel.
"Good-night!" he said, and walked away.
He went with his customary, sauntering gait, but there was absolute decision in his movements. It was quite obvious that he had no intention of returning.
And Noel made no attempt to call him back. He stood with his black brows drawn, and dumbly watched him go.
At the end of thirty seconds, he wheeled slowly round, and turned his sullen face towards Nick's bungalow. As he did so, there was a slight movement near the gate as of someone stealthily retreating.