"You mean she knows?" he asked slowly.
"Yes," said Nick. "But I didn't tell her."
"Did she remember, then?"
"Yes. It all came back to her."
"What effect did it have? Was she—is she very badly upset?" The sharp falter in the words betrayed more than the speaker knew.
Nick turned away from him, grinding his heel into the turf. "No. She took it remarkably quietly on the whole—seemed relieved to know the truth."
"And Max—did she mention him?"
"Yes. She seemed glad to know that he was not responsible, but rather hurt that he had thought it necessary to concoct a lie for her benefit."
"Exactly what I should have felt myself," said Noel. He paused a moment; then: "It was decent of you to let me into that secret," he observed.
"Oh, that was Sir Kersley's doing." Nick still spoke with his back half-turned. "He tackled me on the subject, said you ought to know, but that Max was averse to it. Then I told him why. It seems that he hadn't the vaguest notion till then as to why the engagement was broken off."