'It refers to your wife; that's all I need say just now.'
'You are lying.'
'As you please. Let us go.'
She moved on with unhurried step, and turned towards the nearest cab-rank. Pausing within sight of the vehicles, she looked again at her companion.
'Would you rather have a little quiet talk with me in a four-wheeler, or drive straight to——?'
Hugh's brain was in commotion. The hint of secrets concerning his wife had not its full effect in the moment of utterance; it sounded the common artifice of a criminal. But Mrs. Maskell's cool audacity gave significance to her words; the two minutes' walk had made Hugh as much afraid of her as she could be of him. He stared at her, beset with horrible doubts.
'Won't it be a pity to miss your train?' she said, with a friendly smile. 'I can give you my address.'
'No doubt you can. Look here—it was a toss-up whether I should let you go or not, until you said that. If you had begged off, ten to one I should have thought I might as well save myself trouble. But after that cursed lie——'
'That's the second time you've used the word, Mr. Carnaby. I'm not accustomed to it, and I shouldn't have thought you would speak in that way to a lady.'
He was aghast at her assurance, which, for some reason, made him only the more inclined to listen to her. He beckoned a cab.