,” sotto voce, in the garden.

I heard Sir Percival call after him from the dining-room window. But he took no notice⁠—he seemed determined not to hear. That long-deferred quiet talk between them was still to be put off, was still to wait for the Count’s absolute will and pleasure.

He had detained me in the drawing-room nearly half an hour from the time when his wife left us. Where had she been, and what had she been doing in that interval?