The Real Charlotte. 353 



looked at her, and began to walk away. Charlotte followed 

 him, walking unsteadily on the loose stones, and inwardly 

 cursing his insolence as well as her own forgetfulness of the 

 method she had laid down for the interview. He turned 

 and waited for her when he reached the path, and had time 

 to despise himself for not being able to conceal his feelings 

 from a woman so abhorrent and so contemptible. 



" I am — er — obliged for your information," he said stiffly. 

 In spite of his scorn for his own prejudice, he would not 

 gratify her by saying more. 



" You will forgive me, Sir Christopher," replied Charlotte 

 with an astonishing resumption of dignity, " if I say that 

 that is a point that is quite immaterial to me. I require no 

 thanks. I felt it to be my duty to tell you these painful 

 facts, and what I suffer in doing it concerns only myself." 



They walked on in silence between the lake and the 

 wood, with the bluebells creeping outwards to their feet 

 through the white beech stems, and as the last turn of the 

 path brought them in sight of Francie and Hawkins, 

 Charlotte spoke again : 



*' You'll remember that all this is in strict confidence, Sir 

 Christopher." 



'* I shall remember," said Christopher curtly. 



An hour later, Pam.ela, driving home with her mother, 

 congratulated herself, as even the best people are prone to 

 do, when she saw on the gravel-sweep the fresh double 

 wheel tracks that indicated that visitors had come and gone. 

 She felt that she had talked enough for one afternoon dur- 

 ing the visit to old Lady Eyrecourt, whose deaf sister had 

 fallen to her share, and she did not echo her mother's regret 

 at missing Miss Mullen and her cousin. She threw down 

 the handful of cards on the hall table again, and went with 

 a tired step to look for Christopher in the smoking-room, 

 where she found him with Captain Cursiter, the latter in 

 the act of taking his departure. The manner of her greeting 

 showed that he was an accustomed sight there, and, as a 

 matter of fact, since Christopher's return Captain Cursiter 

 had found himself at Bruff very often. He had discovered 

 that it was, as he expressed it, the only house in the country 

 where the women let him alone. Lady Dysart had expressed 

 the position from another point of view, when she had de- 



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