“Well—you know Jim Langley.”
“Oh, yes.”
“He’s a fascinating sort of person, you know. And Horatia has seen far too much of him. She went to work on that paper just out of devilment.”
That didn’t tally with what Horatia had told Anthony about her work.
“Well—she thinks she’s in love with him and he—is certainly in love with her. Of course, she’s young and beautiful—any man would. But Jim Langley isn’t the sort of person one would pick out for a husband for one’s sister, of course. There are things we’ve all heard——”
“I like Jim very much, myself,” said Anthony, surprisingly.
“Why, we all do—he’s wonderfully fascinating. But he’s so much older than Horatia, and then I myself never would be sure of the stability of such a man’s affection. And Horatia is so wonderful. I’m sure I don’t know why I’ve told you all this.” Which both of them knew was another falsehood.
Anthony went away leaving Maud with a feeling that he understood her better than was comfortable to know. She might have guessed that he had not been a sought-after young man for years without growing pretty astute. At his club he met an old acquaintance and after a few moments’ conversation asked him,
“What about Jim Langley? How’s he coming on?”