He was still standing; but, without noticing, he had drawn nearer to the bed, and she pulled him gently into the chair.
"Haven't you missed me, Eric?" she whispered.
"Damnably!" His laugh was bitter. "I don't see how it's to be avoided, though. And we only make things worse by prolonging the agony. The infernal story's spread to Lashmar now."
Barbara's lips curled assertively.
"I'm sorry you should suffer so much by association with me.… If you aren't expecting any one, will you dine with me, Eric?"
He tried to review his position in the moment allowed him before his answer would begin to seem hesitating. Once in the house, it mattered little whether he stayed one hour or three; but they were fools, both of them, to contrive or assent to his being there. Firmly, if indistinctly, he felt that she was trying to slip behind the decision of their last meeting.
"I'll stay if you like," he said and watched her ring the bell for her maid. "Babs, are you well enough to talk seriously? I don't want to say good-bye, but nothing's changed. We've the choice between a public contradiction——"
"Or a public engagement? Is that what you're afraid of?"
"I'm not afraid of it."
She sank lower in the bed, covering her eyes with her hand.