“It’s no the first time I’ve been enlightened upon the point.”
Shortly after they had disappeared, Miss Horsfield came out of another door, and Vane rose when she approached him.
“Mrs. Nairn told me I would find you and the others in the verandah,” she informed him. “She said she would join you presently, and it was too fine to stay in.”
“I think she was right,” Vane replied. “As you see, I’m alone. Nairn and Carroll have just deserted me, but I can’t complain. What pleases me most about this house is that you can do what you like in it, and—within limits—the same thing applies to this city.”
Jessie laughed, and sank gracefully into the chair he drew forward.
“Yes,” she said. “I think that would please you. But how long have you been back?”
“A fortnight, since yesterday.”
There was a hint of reproach in the glance Jessie favoured him with. “Then I think Mrs. Nairn might have brought you over to see us.”
Vane wondered if she meant she was surprised he had not come of his own accord, and he was mildly flattered.
“I was away at the mine a good deal of the time,” he replied deprecatingly.