In five minutes, during which the two men waited silently, she came back.
“Miss West will see your friend, sir.”
“Ah! Then I’ll take myself off. Prosper, will you join Betty and me at supper?”
“No, thanks. I’ll have my brief interview with Miss West and then go home, if you’ll forgive me. I’m about all in. New York’s too much for a man just home from the front.”
Jasper laid his hand for a moment on Prosper’s shoulder, smiled, shrugged, and turned away. Prosper waited till his friend was out of sight and hearing, then knocked and was admitted to the dressing-room of Miss Jane West.
She had not changed from the evening dress she had worn in the last scene nor had she yet got rid of her make-up. She was sitting in a narrow-backed chair that had been turned away from the dressing-table. The maid was putting away some costumes.
Prosper walked half across the room and stopped.
“Miss West,” he said quietly.
She stood up. The natural color left her face ghastly with patches of paint and daubs of black. She threw back her head and said, “Prosper!” just above her breath.
“Go out, Henrietta.” This was spoken to the maid in the voice of Jane the virago and Henrietta fled.