"Why did you refuse him?"
Julie shrugged her shoulders.
"That, I think, is my affair. But if--I had loved him--I should not have consulted your scruples, Lady Henry."
"That's frank," said Lady Henry. "I like that better than anything you've said yet. You are aware that he may inherit the dukedom of Chudleigh?"
"I have several times heard you say so," said the other, coldly.
Lady Henry looked at her long and keenly. Various things that Wilfrid Bury had said recurred to her. She thought of Captain Warkworth. She wondered.
Suddenly she held out her hand.
"I dare say you won't take it, mademoiselle. I suppose I've been insulting you. But--you have been playing tricks with me. In a good many ways, we're quits. Still, I confess, I admire you a good deal. Anyway, I offer you my hand. I apologize for my recent remarks. Shall we bury the hatchet, and try and go on as before?"
Julie Le Breton turned slowly and took the hand--without unction.
"I make you angry," she said, and her voice trembled, "without knowing how or why."