"And that was why he came to us in Italy two years ago, just after our marriage."
"Yes, that was why."
"Does Mr. Harding know?"
"Know what?"
"That you—knew his mother?"
Sir John shakes his head. "I have never talked with him about his mother's early life."
The stage clock on the mantelpiece begins to strike. Sir John lets it strike up to four or five, and then says, "There, eight o'clock. I must go. I shall be late at the House. Good-by."
He moves over to Lady Cicely and kisses her. There is softness in his manner—such softness that he forgets the bundle of parliamentary papers that he had laid down. Everybody can see that he has forgotten them. They were right there under his very eye.
Lady Cicely stands looking fixedly at the fire. She speaks out loud to herself. "How his voice changed—twenty-five years ago—so long as that—I wonder if Jack knows."