“You were going to cut me,” she said, as he came forward again.
He laughed self-consciously. He was a fool for harbouring malice. Whatever part she had played in the matter of his broken head, she was an alluringly beautiful woman, and that in his opinion excused a great deal.
“Pardon!” he returned. “I was merely diffident as to my welcome.”
She suddenly smiled.
“I rather suspect,” she said, “that you are accustomed to being forgiven. I haven’t any faith in your diffidence.”
Hayhurst opened the door of the car for her and she got in.
“How is it you are not in evening dress? If you had been I would have taken you on to the subscription dance, which is where you ought to be, instead of hanging about other people’s doorways.”
“If I’d only known sooner...” he murmured regretfully.
She looked at Colonel Grey, who, grave and silent, stood behind the younger man.
“Can I drop you anywhere?” she asked.