'For yourself?'
'Yes; for myself. What do you mean?'
'I mean that they are not giving Alice the benefit of the doubt either.'
They happened just then to be near two chairs placed invitingly within an alcove by a soft-hearted hostess who had not yet forgotten her flirting-days.
'Let us sit down,' said Trist, indicating these chairs.
'Now,' he continued in a calm voice when they were seated, 'tell me what the world is saying about Alice.'
Hicks was not devoid of a certain moral courage, and for once in his life he was actuated by a motive which was not entirely selfish.
'They say,' he answered boldly, 'that she ran away from her husband to join you.'
To some natures there is a vague enjoyment in imparting bad news, and the dramatic points in this conversation were by no means lost to William Hicks, who was a born actor. His listener, however, received the news without the slightest indication of surprise or annoyance. He merely nodded his head and murmured:
'Yes; what else?'