"I came away early," he answered. "I was there for an hour."
He was glad that she did not sit down; he wished that she would go away; it would be better if she would go away and leave them to themselves again.
"It was very gay, I suppose," she said. "And you saw Agnes?"
"I have just left her," he replied.
"You ought to have stayed," she said, turning away with a smile. "It would have been better than quarrelling with Richard."
And she went out of the room and left them together, as he had told himself it would be best she should.
He did not look at her as she ascended the staircase; he stood with his back to the open door, and did not speak until he heard her go into the room above them. Then he addressed Richard.
"Do you understand me now?" he said, sternly. "This is the beginning!"
"The beginning!" exclaimed Richard, with a half frantic gesture. "If this is the beginning—and things go wrong—imagine what the end will be!"