V
At dinner that evening, Mrs. Smith broke a long silence with the question:
"Did you go to see Manouvrier?"
"Nn—o."
She looked at me drolly. "Did you go half way and turn back?"
"Yes," said I, "that's precisely what I did." And we dropped the subject.
But in the night I felt her fingers softly touch my shoulder.
"Warm night," I remarked.
"Richard," said she, "it will be time enough to be troubled about your taxidermist when he's given you cause."
"I'm not troubled; I'm simply interested. I'll go down to-morrow and see him." A little later it rained, very softly, and straight down, so that there was no need to shut the windows, and I slept like an infant until the room was full of sunshine.