“Do you know him? Have you met him before?” she asked.
“He was down at the Kursaal the other night—the night Tony and I had such good luck. I dropped my bag and he picked it up for me. That’s all.”
Ann spoke rather shortly, and for some time afterwards appeared to be completely absorbed in manoeuvring the two-seater through the streets. They did not encounter the Englishman’s car again, and eventually, after making a final circuit of the town, they returned to Mon Rêve.
In the evening Lady Susan complained of fatigue.
“I’ve not quite got over that fall of mine yet,” she acknowledged ruefully, when Ann suggested that perhaps she had been out driving too long in the hot sun. “Elderly ladies should refrain from tumbling about; it shakes them up too much. I should immensely like to go to bed, if you don’t mind watching the Venetian fête in solitary splendour. Do you?”
She emitted a sigh of satisfaction when Ann assured her that she did not.
“Then I shall just disappear to bed with a novel. It will entertain me far more than gazing at a lot of illuminated boats paddling about the lake.”
“I think I shall take our boat out, then,” said Ann. “I’d rather like to see it all at close quarters. It’s all new to me, you know.”
Lady Susan nodded. At different times they had spent a good many enjoyable hours together, pulling about on the lake, and she had complete confidence in Ann’s ability to manage a rowing-boat.
“Very well. Only don’t forget Tony is coming to take you to the dance at ten and tire yourself out.”