Page:Gibbs--The yellow dove.djvu/115

 when Betty arose sauntered into the library where the other guests were waiting for the horses to come around. Twice Cyril tried to speak to her, but she avoided him skillfully, contriving to be a part of a group where personal topics were not to be discussed. That kind of maneuvering she knew was a game at which any woman is more than a match for any man. But she saw by the cloud that was growing in Cyril’s eyes that he was not in the mood to be put off with excuses, and realized that the sooner the pain of their interview was over, the better it would be for both of them. She was dressed in the long coat and breeches which she wore in the hunting field, and in her waistcoat pocket was the yellow packet.

“I’ve got to see you for half an hour alone,” he said at last, taking the bull by the horns.

“I shall miss my ride.”

“They’re taking the long road to Ben-a-Chielt. I’ll take you there in the motor and send your mount on by a groom.”

She acquiesced with a cool shrug which put him at once upon his guard, but Doris had reached a pass when all she wanted was to bring their relations to an end as speedily and with as little pain as possible. So that when the others had gone she sank into a chair before the fire, coldly asking him what he wanted. He stood with his back to the hearth, his hands clasped behind him, in a long moment of silence as though trying to find the words to begin.

“Well?” she asked insolently.

“What has happened since last night to change you so, Doris?”

“I’ve had a chance to think.”

“Of what?”