“Is that still unchanged?”
“Quite—intensified rather than moderated.”
“Well, perhaps I have been a trifle too hasty, Jack. It seems that you know much of her past. Tell me, what was the object of your interview?”
He was silent. Presently he said—
“Hugh, you are an old friend, and I wish I were at liberty to tell you, but I regret I am not. Request no explanation, and rest assured that Valérie and myself are not lovers, and, further, that we never were.”
“Are you aware that Valérie and my late brother were acquainted?” Trethowen asked suddenly.
“How did you discover that?” exclaimed the artist in astonishment.
“Then you appear to know that she was a friend of his,” remarked Hugh dryly.
“No; I—it’s the first I’ve heard of it. Who told you?”
“I want to know whether it’s a fact or not,” persisted his friend.