most at once that something unusual
was in the air, and the shades of feeling between himself and Estelle
became for the moment of no importance.

Nothing was said at first of the cause for Aurora's air of repressed
excitement, as she knit on a pink and white baby-jacket, or the cloudy
annoyance puckering Estelle's brow as she stitched on her silk tapestry.
The ladies might merely have been quarrelling, thought the visitor, and
made himself as far as he could a soothing third, chatting with Estelle
about Amiel and with Aurora about young Mrs. Sebastian, whose baby was
to rejoice in the little garment half-finished between her hands.

"Gerald," Aurora interrupted him in the middle of a sentence, letting
her hands and work drop in her lap, "something so queer and unpleasant
has happened!"

He raised both eyebrows in solicitous participation, and mutely
questioned.

"It's about Charlie Hunt. I never would have imagined--you wouldn't
either."

"My imagination, dear friend, is more far-reaching in some ways than
yours," he quickly corrected her, "and has had more practice than yours
in ways of unpleasantness. But do tell me what it is that has happened."

"Charlie Hunt! Charlie Hunt!" she repeated, like one unable to make
herself believe a thing. "Charlie Hunt to turn nasty like that from one
day to the next!"

"To turn----"

"He was here to dinner just two weeks ago and perfectly all right. We
had a nice, long chat together on the sofa. But he didn't make his
party-call quite as soon as he usually does, so when I saw him at
Brenda's wedding I thought of course he'd come up and tell me how busy
he'd been or some other taradiddle. But he didn't come near me. I was
sort of surprised,--still, there were so many people there that he knew,
and we didn't stay quite to the end, you remember. I didn't even think
enough about it to mention it to Estelle. Well, this forenoon I went to
the bank, and when I'd got my money, I happened to catch sight of
Charlie, in the side-room, you know, where his desk is. I thought I'd
like to speak to him. He's always wanted me to ask for him when I went
to the bank, and I've done it more than once, and we've had five
minutes' chat. I was just going to tease him a little bit about coming
to see me so seldom nowadays, when he used to come so often, and ask
about the lady in the case. There really is one, I guess. Italo told me.
So I asked the old boy--you know the one I mean, the old servant