"What work?"
"The same I told you of last year."
Mallard regarded him with curious inquiry.
"His wife travels for her health?"
"She seems to be all right again, but Mrs. Lessingham judged that a change was necessary. Won't you use the opportunity of meeting her?"
"As it comes naturally, there's no reason why I shouldn't. In fact, I shall be glad to see her. But I should have preferred to meet them both together. What faith do you put in this same work of Elgar's?"
"That he is working, I take it there can be no doubt, and I await the results with no little curiosity. Mrs. Lessingham writes vaguely, which, by-the-bye, is not her habit. Whether she is a believer or not, we can't determine."
"Did the child's death affect him much?"
"I know nothing about it."
They smoked in silence for a few minutes. Then Mallard observed, without taking the cigar from his lips: