...To-morrow it would be easier, and wiser. One should never speak
in anger....
But she was quite aware that her anger had burnt itself out. Her mind felt
as cold as her hands. Better have it over. She put on a severe black frock,
not only suitable to the occasion but as a protection from disarming
compliments. Mortimer, who dressed so well himself that it would have been
as impossible for him to overdress as to be rude to a woman, disliked dark
severity in woman's attire. He never criticized his wife's clothes, but
when they displeased him he ignored them with delicate ostentation.
II
Alexina had begun to feel that she should scream in the complete silence of
the dining-room when Mortimer unexpectedly made a remark.
"Gora arrives to-morrow. Will you meet her? I shall not have time."
"Of course. I shall be delighted to see her again. It would have been an
ideal arrangement if I could have left her here with you when I went to
Europe."
"Yes. She was here for a week. I missed her when she left."
"W-h-at? When was she here? You never told me."
"I forgot. It was soon after you left. The ship was disabled--fire, I
think,--and put back. I asked her to stay here until the next sailing."
"How jolly."
Again there was a complete silence. But Alexina did not notice it. Her
brain was whirling. After all, she might be mistaken! Mortimer! He might be
innocent.
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