It was a moment before Barbara answered. She said then, in a level tone: "If he does, I have come by my deserts."
There could be no gainsaying it. Judith said with a wry smile: "I wanted him to, you know."
"Don't you still?"
"No. These days seem to have altered everything. I did not want to receive you in my house, but your strength has supported me as I would not have believed it could. Whatever happened in the past, or whatever is to happen in the future, I can never forget the comfort your presence is to me now."
Barbara turned her head. "You are generous!" she said, a note of mockery in her voice. "But the other side of my character is true, too. Don't set me up on a pedestal! I should certainly tumble down from it."
At that moment Worth came into the room. He had changed into dry clothes, and said, in answer to Judith's surprised exclamation, that he had come in while Mr Fisher and Miss Devenish were sitting with her. The next question was inevitable: "Is there any news?"
"Yes, there is news," he replied. "It is disquieting, but I believe it may be accounted for by the Prussian defeat. The Allied Army is said to be retreating."
Judith gazed at him in horror. Barbara said: "The devil it is! Confound you, I don't believe it!"
"It is a pity your sanguine temperament is not shared by others," he said dryly. "The whole town is in an uproar. I am informed on credible authority that as much as a hundred napoleons have been offered for a pair of horses to go to Antwerp." He flicked open his snuff box and added in a languid tone: "My opinion of the human race has never been high, but the antics that are being performed at this moment exceed every expectation of folly with which I had previously indulged my fancy."
"I hope you observe that we at least are preserving our dignity!" retorted Barbara.