“I’m s-sorry!” he stammered, backing out, and very conscious of Westmore’s unconcealed annoyance. But Thessalie called to him in a perfectly calm voice, and he ventured to come back.
“Are you going to tell Dulcie about this horrible affair?” she asked.
“Not immediately.... Are you feeling all right, Thessa?”
“Yes. I had a horrid night. Isn’t it odd how a girl can so completely lose her nerve after a thing is all over?”
“That’s the best time to lose it,” said Westmore. And to Barres: “She’s bruised from head to foot and her neck hurts yet——”
“It is nothing,” murmured Thessalie, looking smilingly 411 at her lover. Then they both glanced at Barres.
There was a silence. Side by side on the library lounge they continued to gaze expectantly at Barres. And when he got it into his head that this polite expectancy might express their desire for his early departure, he backed out again, embarrassed and slightly irritated.
Thessalie called to him very sweetly:
“If you are looking for Dulcie, I left her a few minutes ago over by the wall-fountain in the rose arbour.”
“Thanks,” he said, and turned back through the hall, traversing it to the north veranda.