"Very well done! A realistic scene!" Wyndham remarked, looking round. "Did you know it was Macbeth, Bob?"
"I did not," said Marston. "If I had known, I think I'd have picked another night."
Wyndham looked hard at him, and then laughed and began to talk to Flora, but Marston felt jarred. Harry laughed like that in moments of tension when others swore. Then he saw that Mabel was studying him.
"You are quiet, Bob," she said.
"It's long since I saw a good play," Marston replied. "My first relaxation since I got to work, and I expect it grips me harder because it's fresh. Full house, isn't it? Do you know many people?"
"I see one or two friends of yours. They have been looking at you, but you wouldn't turn."
"I didn't see them," said Marston. "I've got the habit of dropping people since I joined Wyndhams'. Regular work is something of a novelty and while the newness lasts you get absorbed. I don't know if it's good or not. What do you think?"
Mabel laughed. "Well done, Bob! It cost you something, but you felt you ought to talk."
"It oughtn't to have cost me anything," said Marston apologetically. "But how did you know?"
"My dear, you're honest and obvious. Besides, we do know things, by instinct perhaps. I would always know when you were disturbed."