Payne shook his head.
"Candidly, child, I didn't know what to think. I hoped it wasn't true. But of late that damned Bengali seemed so intimate with you. He apparently wanted everyone to see on what very friendly terms you and he were."
"Did Major Dermot believe it too?"
"I don't know," said Payne doubtfully. "Dermot's not the fellow to talk about women. He's never mentioned you."
"But how do you know that Mrs. Rice said such a thing? Did she tell you?"
"No; she knows that I am your friend, and I daresay she was afraid to tell me such a lie. But she told others."
He turned in his chair and called to a young fellow standing near the bar of the club.
"I say, Travers, do you mind coming here a moment? Pull up a chair and sit down."
Travers was a straight, clean-minded boy, one of those of their community whom Noreen liked best, and she had felt hurt at his marked avoidance of her all the afternoon.
"Look here, youngster," said Payne in a low voice, "did Mrs. Rice tell you that Miss Daleham was engaged to Chunerbutty?"