“One day, if it will interest you to hear it,” he said, “I will tell you what I think of you. But at the moment I do not feel equal to so much frankness. If you have finished breakfast, let me carry your chair into the shade of the trees. Since there is no one to whom your absence will cause anxiety we will suit our own convenience as to the time of our return.”
Book One—Chapter Nine.
The two or three guests at the hotel who witnessed Esmé’s return in the company of Hallam were filled with amazement at the unusual spectacle of the man who was never known to associate with any one, walking beside the girl and carrying her coat across his shoulder, with an air of being on perfectly friendly terms with his companion and with himself. The two were laughing when they neared the gate; but the man’s expression settled into its habitual boredom as he followed the girl up the path and mounted the steps on to the stoep.
He removed the coat from his shoulder and handed it to her with a brief smile.
“I have enjoyed my walk,” he said. “Thank you.”
“Thank you for taking me,” she answered, conscious of the curious eyes observing her. “I have enjoyed it also.”
Then she went inside. Hallam waited for a minute or two before entering, the hotel, while the people on the stoep watched him, puzzled and immensely interested in these proceedings. He did not appear to notice them; and presently he went in, and the restraint which his presence always imposed on the rest relaxed perceptibly.
They started to discuss him, to deplore his friendship with the girl; they pondered the question whether it was the particular duty of any one to warn her against pursuing the acquaintance: every one thought that she ought to be warned; but no one volunteered to undertake this friendly office; they were all a little in awe of the man of whom they disapproved.