Nance turned very pale.
"Walter!" she said faintly, after a moment's pause. Then, before he could speak again, she looked up at him. "Wait for a minute!" she said sharply—"wait for a minute!" And turning, she hurried back to where Daisy Estcoit was still sitting.
"Daisy," she said, "tell Pierce that I have gone out with Walter, and that I'll be back in half an hour. Tell him that it's something most—most important." She spoke hastily; and, without waiting to see the effect of her words, turned again, and threaded her way between the groups of people back to where Gore was standing.
"Call a cab, Waiter!" she said. "We must talk."
"But, Nance——"
"A hansom, please!"
She turned without embarrassment to one of the attendants.
"But Nance——"
"You cannot refuse me, Walter. Clo is everything in the world to me."
The jingle of harness sounded, as the hansom drew up; and, walking deliberately forward, she got into the vehicle.