He jumped at the conclusion that Lynne was probably returning to his own box, since his coat and hat were still there, and that probably he was bringing some person or persons with him; and so Nick slipped quickly out of the box and, without announcement, entered the adjoining one occupied by his friends.
“Please don’t move or speak,� he said to them hastily, when they would have risen to greet him. “I want to listen. I’ll visit with you later.�
They supposed that he referred to the music when he said that he wished to listen, but his own idea was to learn, if possible, what might be said in the other box that he had just quitted.
He seated himself upon a chair that was just far enough back from the front so that he would not be observed, and at once leaned his head upon one hand, holding the palm open as if the better to divert the sound of the singing and the orchestra into his ear—and in doing so shielded his face from any person who might chance to look around from the adjoining box.
Also he pulled a curtain a little aside, so that he could see as well as hear—and he was not as greatly amazed as Chick had been a few moments before when he saw that two women had followed Lynne into the box, and that one of them was Madge Babbington.
“At last,� was his thought. “The real game is about to begin.�
But if he had anticipated hearing anything of importance in the conversation that ensued—for not one of the three paid the slightest attention to the great opera—he was doomed to disappointment.
Their talk was of the most commonplace sort, and it appeared from what was said that Lynne had, indeed, only just been presented to Mrs. Hurd-Babbington.
Actual mention of the supposed fact was actually made more than once—too often, Nick thought; and, indeed, it was the only thing that made him suspect that the conversation was more or less a studied one.
But he was destined to hear just one thing which made his effort worth while, and that happened when the other woman gave her attention for a moment to the stage, thus leaving Lynne and Madge for a instant to themselves; and it happened, too, that they were very close to the curtain beyond which Nick Carter was seated at the moment.