They had seen much
of each other these past few days, but it was still hard
for him to make sure whether their freedom of intercourse
had been enlarged.
The slight shrug of the shoulders with which, in silence,
she commented upon his remark, embarrassed him. For a
moment he said nothing. He went on then with a renewed
consciousness of risk.
"You mustn't be annoyed with me," he urged. "I've been
travelling with that dear little niece of mine and her brother,
so long, that I've got into a habit of watching to notice
if the faces I see round me are happy. And when they're not,
then I have a kind of fatherly notion of interfering,
and seeing what's wrong."
She smiled faintly at this, but when he added, upon
doubtful inspiration--"By the way, speaking of fathers,
I didn't know at Hadlow that you were the daughter
of one of my Directors"--this smile froze upon the instant.
"The Dent du Midi is more impressive from the hotel,
don't you think?" she remarked, "than it is from here."
Upon consideration, he resolved to go forward.
"I have taken a great interest in General Kervick,"
he said, almost defiantly. "I am seeing to it that he has
a comfortable income--an income suitable to a gentleman
of his position--for the rest of his life."
"He will be very glad of it," she remarked.
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