"The Paris made a very fast trip and I am here before you expected me. Are you glad, Ethel?"
He looked anxiously into her dark eyes. They were flashing angrily and her slender foot tapped the carpet vehemently. Not a word came from her crimson lips.
"Are you glad?" he repeated gently, but she bit her lips without reply.
Lord Chester waited impatiently several minutes, but Ethel preserved the same scornful mien.
Then he rose indignantly.
"Perhaps I am unwelcome. You have repented your decision in my favor. I had better go," he said with hauteur.
Then she lifted her dainty gloved hand with a gesture for him to resume his seat.
"Do not go," she said icily, "until you have explained the tableau I witnessed when I entered just now."
"The tableau!"