"My sphere isn't yours," said he. "If it hadn't been for the accident of Hylton being here, we should not have met now."
"Captain Hylton had nothing to do with it," she said warmly. "I had no notion that you were at Clermont-Ferrand."
"I'm quite aware of that, Lady Auriol."
She flushed, vexed at having said a foolish thing.
"And Captain Hylton had no notion that I was coming."
"Perfectly," said Lackaday.
"Well?" she said after a pause.
"I came over to Royat, this morning," said Lackaday, "to call on you and bid you good-bye."
"Why?" she asked in a low voice.
"It appeared to be ordinary courtesy."