My lord replaced his mask and flung the pink domino over his shoulder.
"Speak to Marius," he said, and stepped carelessly into the ballroom.
Susannah sank into the chair by the little card-table; the music of "La Louvre" broke gaily on the stillness, that and the delicate steps of the couples returning to the ball-room. She put her hand before her eyes; only by a miserable effort did she keep back the tears.
CHAPTER VIII
MARIUS APPEALS
The heavy coach rolled cumbrously over the cobbled streets, and the fitful flame of the lamp that lit the handsome interior showed the wan, troubled face of Susannah Chressham, colourless between the folds of bright hair, and the clouded countenance of Captain Lyndwood who sat opposite to her, wrapped in what seemed a passionate and seething silence.
She, sitting up, and gathering her mantle together over her low blue dress with a mechanical gesture, was the first to speak.
"I regret I could not find Selina again," she said. "I was sorry to leave without speaking to her—" She broke off; Marius was not in her confidence, nor indeed much in her thoughts, and she paused, wondering what she should reveal and what keep back.