"Answer me in plain words, without a lie, and without shiftiness. Do you know that Lord Dymchurch has proposed to May, and been refused?"
"I did not know it."
"You suspected as much."
"I thought it possible. But the business was none of mine, and I gave very little heed to it."
Lady Ogram had begun to totter. She let herself sink upon the sofa, and re-read the letter that shook in her hand.
"He says he has a sister ill. Did you hear anything of that?"
"Nothing at all."
The autocrat stared for a moment, as though trying to read Constance's thoughts; then she waved her hand.
"Go back to your work. Stay in the library till you hear from me again."
Constance quivered with the impulse to make indignant reply, but prudence prevailed. She bent her head to conceal wrathful features, and in silence went from the room.