"Yes," said Batiscombe, in a muffled voice, "I know."
"I came upon you by accident," said she, "and I made a discovery. You pass your afternoons in the society of my sister-in-law, and you lose your temper with me when I find you together,—though you always wish me to understand that you prefer my society to that of any woman in the world."
"Ah—how you express it!" exclaimed Julius.
"I express it as plainly as I can. I cannot help it if you do not like it. It is all true. And the inference is perfectly clear. Do you see?"
"No," said Batiscombe.
"You do not? Very well, I will draw it for you."
She leaned back in the chair and looked at him; her eyes were accustomed by this time to the gloom, and she could see him quite clearly in the starlight. He moved uneasily.
"Pray go on," he said.
"The inference is this. You are making love to Leonora Carantoni."
"You shall not say that," said Batiscombe, between his teeth, still looking fiercely at her.