"I thought perhaps you had a good many dull hours now Vansittart is so much away."
"How do you know that he is much away?" asks Virginia, feeling vaguely hurt at his words and tone.
"Because I so often meet him out."
"Where do you meet him?"
"Oh, at different places. Chiefly at Mrs. Devereux's."
Lord Harford looks full in Virginia's face, and she, who is so quick, cannot fail to see that his eyes and tone are intended to convey some meaning.
"Mrs. Devereux?" she says, inquiringly. "You mean his cousin."
"Yes."
After this there is a pause. It is as though he wanted her to question him; as though she were fighting against the desire to know his meaning. She conquers herself by an effort.
"I have been very ill since you saw me last. You find me much altered, do you not?"