"Yes...."
He would have said more, but it suddenly struck him as comical that Lady Cecily should speak of Mary almost in the words that Mary had used when she spoke of Lady Cecily. He looked up at the box and saw that Mary was talking to her mother, and something in her attitude sent a pang through his heart.
"I do love Mary," he said to himself, "but somehow ... somehow I love Cecily too!"
Lady Cecily was speaking to him and he turned to listen.
"I want you to introduce me to Ninian's sister," she said.
"Yes," he answered reluctantly, though he could not have said why he was reluctant to introduce her to Mary.
"After the next act," she went on, and he nodded his head.
Then Jimphy returned, and Henry got up and left her, and hurried back to the box. The second act had begun when he reached it, and he tiptoed to his seat and sat down in silence. Mary looked round at him, smiling, and then looked back at the stage, and again he felt that odd reluctance to bring Lady Cecily and her together.
3
At the end of the second act, he turned to Mary and said, "Lady Cecily wants to be introduced to you. I said I'd bring her here after this act!"