He made no answer, until Jessie asked—
'Why does it seem to interest you so much?'
'What?—all that stuff you've been telling me? I was thinking of something quite different.'
'Oh!' exclaimed the girl, blankly.
There was a longer silence. Jessie let her eyes stray about the room, stealing a glance at Dagworthy occasionally. Presently he rose, poked the fire with violence, and drank his own wine, which had been waiting so long.
'I must have out the carriage to send you back,' he said, going to the window to look at the foul weather.
'The carriage, indeed!' protested the girl, with a secret joy. 'You'll do no such thing.'
'I suppose I shall do as I choose,' he remarked, quietly. Then he came and rang the bell.
'You're not really going to—?'
A servant answered, and the carriage was ordered.