There were irony and bitterness in her voice.
"He said he'd come back and meet me in the tea-room presently," she added.
"Shall we go there and wait for him?" asked Malling.
"But I'm afraid I'm taking up your time."
"I have no engagements this afternoon. I shall enjoy a quiet talk with you."
"It's very good of you."
They descended, and sat down in a quiet corner. In the distance a few respectable persons were slowly eating bath-buns with an air of fashion, their duly marked catalogues laid beside them on marble.
Far-off waiters, standing with their knees bent, conversed in undertones. A sort of subterranean depression, peculiar to this fastness of Burlington House, brooded over the china and the provisions.
"It reminds me of the British Museum tearoom," said Lady Sophia. "Here is tea! What a mercy! Modern pictures sap one's little strength."
She looked haggard, and was obviously on the edge of her nerves.