Page:The Relentless City.djvu/235

Rh it echoed and reverberated in a manner which rendered all else inaudible.

she went on—

Gallio turned to her with his most courtly air.

he said,

The famous cry resounded over the lawns, and beat in echo against the house.

she cried.

Sybil Massington and others had arrived already, and the assembled party, some fifteen or sixteen, were now all gathered on the lawn, drinking tea and eating strawberries with a slight air of constraint, as if social thunder of some kind was in the air. Bertie, who had been receiving his guests indoors and bringing them out, was in a low chair just opposite Mrs. Palmer, listening with rather less than half an ear to what Sybil was saying to him. Quite involuntarily, at this speech he raised a deprecating eyebrow,