“I got away at four o’clock.”
Something seemed to leap in Mrs. Romayne’s eyes—to be instantly suppressed—as she said, with an indifference which any ear keener than Julian’s might have detected to be forced:
“Four o’clock! And what have you been doing since then, may I ask? You did not come in till a quarter past seven.”
Perhaps Julian felt the inquisition in the question, though he was conscious of nothing unusual in his mother’s voice; for he answered, rather briefly:
“I went to the Garrick with a fellow.”
“What fellow?” demanded his mother in the same tone.
Julian moved impatiently.
“There’s another fellow reading with Allardyce,” he answered. “Griffiths—he took me in.”
As though the suppressed impatience of his tone had not escaped her, Mrs. Romayne found herself reminded at this point of something she had heard that afternoon during one of her visits. And she proceeded to place her little piece of news before Julian with every advantage that narration could give it, though her face looked rather thin and sharp as she talked. Dinner was over by this time, and as she finished with a laugh, she rose from her seat, and put her hand on Julian’s arm. His face was somewhat bored and dissatisfied, as though his mother’s effort for his entertainment entirely failed to compensate him for the merry house-parties of the last month.