the only person in the vestibule whom she
could see, her back being turned to all beside. She wondered, again with
that delightful yet half-startled thrill, if his meaning were in any way
connected with this fact. He certainly absorbed the whole of her
attention, if that were what he wanted. Her hunger faded completely into
the background.

He lighted a cigarette and began to smoke. The space beyond them was full
of moving figures and laughing voices; but the turmoil scarcely reached
Dinah. An invisible barrier seemed to shut them off from all the rest.
They were not merely aloof; they were alone, and a curiously intimate
touch pervaded their solitude. She felt her spirit start in quivering
response to the call of his, just as the night before when she had
floated with him above the clouds. What was happening to her she had not
the least idea, but the consciousness of his near presence pulsed
magnetically through and through her. Scott's brief advice of the morning
was scattered from her memory like feathers before the wind. She had no
memory. She lived only in this burning splendid ardour of a moment.

She drank her tea mechanically, finding nothing enigmatic in his silence.
The direct look of his blue eyes discomfited her strangely, but it was a
sublime discomfiture--the discomfiture of the moth around the flame. She
longed to meet it, but did not wholly dare. With veiled glances she
yielded to the attraction, not yet bold enough for complete surrender.

He spoke at last, and she started.

"Well? Am I forgiven?"

The nonchalant enquiry sent the blood in another hot wave to her cheeks.
Had she ever presumed to be angry with this godlike person?

"For what?" she asked, her voice very low.

He leaned towards her. "Did I only fancy that by some evil chance I had
offended you?"

She kept her eyes lowered. "I thought you were the offended one," she
said.

"I?" She caught the note of surprise in his voice, and it sent a very
curious little sense of shame through her.

With an effort she raised her eyes. "Yes. I thought you were offended.
You went by me this morning without seeing me."

His look was very intent, almost as if he were searching for something;
but it did not disconcert her as she had half-expected to be
disconcerted. His eyes were more caressing than dominant just then.

"What if I didn't see you because I didn't dare?" he said.

That gave her confidence. "I should think you couldn't be so silly a