‘It doesn’t look like it,’ said Tarrant, taking the edge off his words with a smile.
‘I won’t come again in this way. Where have you been tonight?’
‘Oh, with friends.’
‘Which friends? where?’
He moved impatiently.
‘People you don’t know, Nancy, and wouldn’t care about if you did. Do you know what time it is?’
‘Do tell me where you have been. It isn’t prying into your affairs. Your friends ought to be mine; at least, I mean, I ought to know their names, and something about them. Suppose I were to tell you I had been spending the evening with friends—’
‘My dear girl, I shouldn’t ask a question, unless you invited it. However, it’s better to tell you that I have been making arrangements to sublet these chambers. I can’t afford to keep them, even if there were any use in it. Harvey Munden has introduced me to a man who is likely to relieve me of the burden. I shall warehouse my books and furniture—’
‘Then you are going? Really going to leave England?’
He affected astonishment; in truth, nothing now could surprise him.