There was a tone in Audrey’s voice which I had never heard in it before—almost of appeal. I knew that she was observing his face with growing surprise, wondering at his obvious constraint. He was generally the readiest of men; and, with all his passionate devotion to her, never at a loss to express, in the most graceful terms, his eagerness to meet her smallest wishes. This blundering creature was entirely new to her. Something very near to pity came into her face as she continued to regard him.
“What is the matter with you, Mr Carter? You scarcely seem to be yourself this afternoon.”
Again a second’s pause. Then he lifted his head and looked at her.
“I am not myself, Miss Audrey, not in the sense that you have known me.”
He turned and looked towards me. As he did so, he came and stood close to where I was sitting.
“I must beg you to allow me to withdraw from the arrangement which existed between us, so far as it referred to me. I believe that Miss Norah but seldom attends a theatrical performance. She has never attended one with me. If she will grant me the felicity of accompanying her to one to-night, she will confer on me an obligation of which I shall ever continue conscious.”
There was silence after that. I was tingling from head to foot. I almost felt that I should like to box his ears. I have little doubt that Audrey would not have been indisposed to box both his and mine. A look which was akin to terror came into her eyes; she went white, as if something had frightened her. Doris laughed, not nicely, or naturally either.
“So, Mr Purchase, since Mr Carter throws us over, and what he says is quite correct, poor Norah seldom does attend a theatre—so few people care to attend one with her—Audrey and I will have to depend on you; you will have to find seats for both of us.”
The moment she had spoken I knew that Mr Purchase was going to make himself as objectionable as his friend had done, and I believe that Doris half suspected it too. There is a sting in that tongue of hers which is always ready to strike at someone the instant she even imagines that something unpleasant is going to happen to her. He drew himself up with that superior air which I have noticed that some men do cultivate when they know that they are about to behave badly.
“I trust, Miss Doris, that an erroneous interpretation will not be placed upon my words; but you must permit me to point out that I have already asked Miss Norah to share my box.”