Page:Herbert Jenkins - Patricia Brent Spinster.djvu/314

 Patricia smiled. "Have I been here long?" she asked. "It seems ages since I came."

"No; only about five minutes. Oh, Patricia! you won't do it again, will you?" Bowen drew her nearer to him and upset the glass containing the remains of the whisky and soda that he had placed on the floor beside him.

"I didn't quite faint, really," she said earnestly, as if defending herself from a reproach.

"I mean throw me over," explained Bowen, "It's been hell!"

"Please go and sit down," she said, moving restlessly. "I'm all right now. I—I want to talk and I can't talk like this." Again she smiled, and Bowen lifted her hand and kissed it gently. Rising he drew a chair near her and sat down.

"You see all this comes of trying to be a Mrs. Triggs," she said regretfully.

"Mrs. Triggs!" Bowen looked at her anxiously.

Slowly and a little wearily Patricia explained her conversation with Elton. "Didn't he tell you he had seen me?"

"No," replied Bowen, relieved at the explanation; "Godfrey is a perfect dome of silence on occasion."

"Why did you suddenly leave me all alone, Peter?" Patricia enquired presently. "I couldn't understand. It hurt me terribly. I didn't realise"—she paused—"oh, everything, until I