XXXI.
Susanne comes into the room, saying to Helen who lies in bed, listlessly staring out of the window into the frosty morning:
"Madame's bath is ready."
Helen rises and goes toward the bath-room. Her movements are languid, spiritless. Her face indicates a sleepless night. When she takes her seat at the dressing-table, she remarks briefly:
"Make me look my best this morning. I am particularly anxious this morning."
"Yes, Madame."
The maid works deftly, and soon Helen, perfectly equipped, opens her door. She gives a furtive glance down the hall.
Braine's room door stands open, and she gets a glimpse of Sherry brushing a dress coat within. She knows that Braine is up, and thinks he has probably gone out. She goes collectedly down the stairs, and enters the breakfast room.
Braine sits in the alcove, reading the morning papers. As she enters, he looks up and says:
"Listen to this, Helen," and he begins reading a sensational article implicating the Graysons in a scandal so thinly disguised in the telling, that the disguise serves only to emphasize what lies beneath it, as a veil often accentuates the face it pretends to conceal.