THE AMERICAN
whom he had seen move past him many times in the rapid circles of a waltz, but with whom, also, conforming to her explicit instructions, he had exchanged no word since the beginning of the evening. The whole house having been thrown open the apartments of the rez-de-chaussée were also accessible, though a smaller number of persons had gathered there. Newman wandered through them, observing a few scattered couples to whom this comparative seclusion appeared grateful, and reached a small conservatory which opened into the garden. The end of the conservatory was formed by a clear sheet of glass, unmasked by plants and admitting the winter starlight so directly that a person standing there would seem to have passed into the open air. Two persons stood there now, a lady and a gentle man; the lady Newman, from within the room and although she had turned her back to it, immediately recognised as his friend. He hesitated as to whether he should advance, but as he did so she looked round, feeling apparently that he was there. She rested her eyes on him a moment and then turned again to her companion.
"It's almost a pity not to tell Mr. Newman," she said with restraint, but in a tone Newman could hear.
"Tell him if you like!" the gentleman answered in the voice of Lord Deepmere.
"Oh, tell me by all means!—and our hero came straight forward.
Lord Deepmere, he observed, was very red in the face and had twisted his gloves into as tight a cord
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