He bent down as he stopped speaking, and peered under the awning.
The troubled look in her eyes disconcerted him.
“Darling, what is it?” he asked anxiously. “Is something worrying you?”
“Not worrying me, exactly,” she answered, with rather a wan smile, “only——”
“Yes? Only what?”
“I think I can guess why your friends have stayed away. It isn’t hard to guess.”
“Isn’t it? Well, I wish I knew the reason—ah——”
His expression had suddenly changed.
“So now you know,” she went on. “Personally I am not surprised. You know how people have cold-shouldered me since that dreadful affair at the ball. Now it has become known we are engaged, people want less than ever to meet me. Had you been here alone, your friends would probably all have come to lunch.”
“‘Friends,’ you call them?” Preston exclaimed with a black look. “They are no longer friends of mine, I can assure you, if they are that sort.”