Page:Later Life (1919).djvu/122

114 "Dear, you mustn't excite yourself like that. Some one is coming; I hear Uncle . . ."

The girl recovered herself quickly as Van der Welcke entered the room. He stood for a moment in the doorway, smiling his gay, boyish smile, his blue eyes glowing with happiness. She looked at him for a second.

"Well, Marianne . . . I haven't seen you for ever so long . . ."

"Yes, you're always in that old car with Brauws. . . . And I've been an absolute butterfly. Only think, at the Court ball, the other night, just as the Queen entered the ball-room . . ."

She sat down and told her little budget of news in a voice that seemed to come from far away. The dusk crept in and shadowed the room, obliterating their outlines and the expression of their faces.