“Your best friend!” she echoed. “Ah! that is to be regretted. Then you could not have known him when he was a student in Paris.”
“No; tell me about him,” Hugh asked anxiously.
“Although I knew him, I shall say nothing beyond the fact that his was an unenviable reputation.”
His lips were parted in surprise as he looked at her.
“My darling,” he said, a trifle coldly, “you can’t expect me to judge my friend without being aware of his offence.”
“His offence?” she exclaimed, with a start. “What—what do you mean? What do you know of his offence?”
He was astonished at her sudden and intense interest.
“Nothing beyond what you have just told me,” he replied calmly, although her strange agitation had not escaped him.
It seemed as if she had unintentionally referred to something she wished to hide. Drawing a long breath, she quickly recovered herself.
“Ah, I understand,” she said; “I thought you were referring to—other things.”