“Lawrence Blake?” he asked, in some surprise.
Paddy coloured painfully.
“Yes, didn’t you know? He went to India a month after the dance.”
Ted watched her inquiringly, uncertain whether or not to ask a particular question.
Paddy settled the matter for him.
“It was rather a good thing,” she said, trying to speak naturally. “He and Eileen were hovering on the brink of an engagement, and it would not have been a suitable match. He would never have made a girl like Eileen happy.”
Ted drew his own conclusions, but all he said, was:
“O’Hara will get his chance now—lucky beggar,” and then suddenly relapsed into thought, as it dawned upon him it might in the end mean his own chance, too.
“You have not told me why you are going abroad?” she said, after a pause.
“I am going to South Africa for the firm I am with.”