'I hope it is right. I think it is.'
Annabel paused a little, then made an unforced transition to other matters. She rose to leave before long. Whilst her hand was in Mrs. Ormonde's, she asked:
'May I know anything more than father told me?'
She had said it with a little difficulty, but without confusion of face.
'What did your father tell you?'
'Only that she is in your care, and that you think her voice can be cultivated, so as to serve her.'
'Yes, I will tell you more than that, dear. He is absolutely without bond as regards her. They have never met since her flight from home, and, more, she has no suspicion that he ever took an interest in her save as Mr. Grail's future wife.'
'She does not know that?'
'She has no idea of it. They have never exchanged a more than friendly word. He believed, when absent from England, that she was already married, and of his movements since then she is wholly ignorant.'
She listened with frank surprise; her face showed nothing more than that.