"She has a headache," the maid replied; "just a little nervous. Is your lordship well?"
"No, I am not well, Pauline, I am sorry to say. I feel very groggy. I have been all night in a confounded slow train."
Pauline said nothing, but left the room just as the third door opened and Collingwood came briskly into the room.
He was wearing a lounge suit of dark blue. The air of poise and easy carriage which was so marked a part of his personality was very much in evidence now. There was a quiet spring in his step, a brisk and cheery purpose in his movements, and he seemed singularly alert and débonnaire; perfectly dressed, a very proper man to look at, but somehow or other without a suggestion of foppishness, which Lord Ellerdine always managed to convey. His face was calm and composed, but a close observer would have noticed that there were dark rings under the eyes and that the face was slightly paler than its wont.
"Oh, there you are!" Lord Ellerdine said.
"Hello, Ellerdine!" Collingwood replied. "Bright and early as usual?"
"Early, yes," said the other; "but not so deuced bright, old chap."
"When did you get here?"
"About five o'clock."
"Had breakfast?"