Page:Sanctuary (Wharton 1903).djvu/64

 need n't look farther for your reason: it is simply that you have ceased to love him.&quot;

Kate fell back from the door which she had instinctively barricaded.

&quot;Perhaps that is it,&quot; she murmured, letting Mrs. Peyton pass.

returning carriage-wheels crossed Mrs. Peyton's indignant flight; and an hour later Kate, in the bland candlelight of the dinner-hour, sat listening with practised fortitude to her father's comments on the venison.

She had wondered, as she awaited him in the drawing-room, if he would notice any change in her appearance. It seemed to her that the flagellation of her thoughts must have left visible traces. But Mr. Orme was not a man of subtle perceptions, save where his personal comfort was affected: