“I am so glad you have come,” she said, with a suspicion of reproach.
“I should have come before this,” he replied, “only I thought——”
“You thought?”
“That perhaps you were too much engaged to care to see me.”
She knew from his tone what she had already guessed from the manner of his greeting, that he was jealous and suspicious. That unlucky meeting in the forest had worked its effects.
“Osbert!” she returned reproachfully. “Indeed, I have wanted to see you very much.”
In the first excitement of their meeting he had had no thought of the proof which Zarka had bidden him look for. Now the delight called up by her words was checked as he noticed the high band round her throat. A chilling wave of despair seemed to flow over him, and he replied almost coldly; “You wished to see me? I hardly guessed that.”
If she ignored his coldness it was because she knew it to be natural. “I wanted to warn you.”
“To warn me?” he asked half suspiciously.
“To put you on your guard against Count Zarka.”