“I knew it!” she said. “But you might have been honest—you might have told me the truth. 287 Oh God! and I’ve suffered all that—all that——”
The voice of Natalie came, singing, up the passage. Without another word Angela went to her room, leaving Jim bewildered by this strange outburst.
It was late in the evening, and a full moon sailed in the clear sky. The night was remarkably warm, and Devinne and Natalie and Jim were sitting on the veranda which skirted the south side of the house. Jim sat in a brown study, pondering over Angela’s changed attitude. Devinne, as if by some pre-arranged plan, silently vanished into the house. Jim was suddenly brought to his senses by feeling Natalie’s soft hand on his.
“You are verra—vat you call him—preoccupied, eh?”
“I was thinking.”
“Of what?”
“Oh, of many things.”
“The future?”
“Sure! It’s that that’s got me beat.”