He had jumped out after her, but saw that it was ridiculous to think of further pursuit.
But a glance at the moving train as it went out of the station showed him, in one of the compartments, the face of the white-haired gentleman, with a faint smile on his cold features.
And Gerard, who saw that the mysterious stranger was looking at him, with a sort of faint, cold contempt upon his face, wondered vaguely whether he had not seen those well-cut features, and that inscrutable expression, somewhere before that day.
And as he walked away and thought the matter over, the impression grew stronger and stronger upon him that, either in a picture or in the flesh, he had seen the man’s face before.
CHAPTER XII
It was on the very last day of July, when the season had come to an end, and streams of luggage-laden cabs were flowing in the direction of all the great railway stations, that Gerard kept the engagement he had made with Lady Jennings, and arrived at her house in time for dinner.
During the days which had elapsed since the luncheon at her house, and his pursuit of Miss Davison and the mysterious white-haired man, Gerard had seen and heard nothing whatever of the girl, and had indeed done his best to think of other things, and to push her image out of the unduly prominent position which it had occupied in his mind if not in his heart.
The attempt had been, of course, unsuccessful. And it was with the strongest possible feelings of passionate interest, and in a state of keen excitement, that he presented himself again at the house of her old friend and protectress, and found his heart beating high at the thought of seeing her again.
Lady Jennings, however, came into the drawing-room alone, and though three or four other guests came in almost immediately, Miss Davison did not appear.
Gerard’s spirits sank when the gong sounded, and they all went down to dinner, and he saw, with dismay, that all the places were filled, and that the woman in whom his thoughts were centered was absent from the circle.