Page:In The Cage (London, Duckworth, 1898).djvu/164

158 of his great stature, straightened his triumphant shoulders, and strode out of the place.

She was left confronted with her habitual critics. If it's wrong it's all right! she extravagantly quoted to them.

The counter-clerk was really awe-stricken. 'But how did you know, dear?'

'I remembered, love!'

Mr. Buckton, on the contrary, was rude. 'And what game is that, miss?'

No happiness she had ever known came within miles of it, and some minutes elapsed before she could recall herself sufficiently to reply that it was none of his business.

 

If life at Cocker's, with the dreadful drop of August, had lost something of its savour, she had not been slow to infer that a heavier blight had fallen on the graceful industry of Mrs. Jordan. With Lord Rye and Lady Ventnor and Mrs. Bubb all out of town, with the blinds down on all the homes of luxury, this ingenious