“But you didn’t——” she began, and then stopped with uplifted eyebrows.
“I know,” he answered, smiling; “but I foresaw at least the possibility that you would be propitious.”
“I think she’s angry with you about it.”
“Very likely. She’s been angry with me before.”
“I didn’t know, until to-night, that she was an old friend of Alan’s,” said Margaret.
“Oh yes,” he answered, indifferently; “it’s an affair of long standing, I hear.”
“What do you mean?” said Margaret, facing him with a sudden surprise, and then, remembering the scene she had witnessed in the conservatory, she averted her eyes, and was silent.
“I merely meant,” he answered, in a tone of quick regret, “that I happened to hear Waring say that they were friends in London, last year. Mr. and Mrs. Vere spent the season there, and your cousin happening to be there also, naturally saw them often—all being Americans together.”
At this point they caught sight of Mrs. Gaston, and Margaret hastened to join her, and so the subject was very willingly dropped by them both.
Cousin Eugenia declared and reiterated that Margaret had been a shining success at this ball, but of that the girl thought and cared little. But for many days to come, the recurring thoughts of that evening brought with them certain memories that rankled, as well as certain others that comforted and soothed.