"Why can't I?"
He should have known then—it was thundered at a closed door in him, that he played with fire. But the door being closed, he thought himself internally secure.
Their eyes met. He put her down instantly.
Sir Julius, charming as he was, lost his vogue. Seeing that, the wily woman resumed her shell. The memory, of Sir Julius breathing about her still, doubled the feminine attraction.
"I ought to have been an actress," she said.
Richard told her he found all natural women had a similar wish.
"Yes! Ah! then! if I had been!" sighed Mrs. Mount, gazing on the pattern of the carpet.
He took her hand, and pressed it.
"You are not happy as you are?"
"No."