Their uncle, they realized, must be concerned in large
and probably venturesome enterprises; but it did not fit
with their conception of his character that commercial
anxieties should possess the power to upset him.
And upset he undeniably was.
They traced his disturbance, in a general way, to the
morning following the excursion up to Glion and Caux.
He told them then that he had slept very badly, and that
they must "count him out" of their plans for the day.
He continued to be counted out of what remained of
their stay at Territet. He professed not to be ill,
but he was restless and preoccupied. He ate little,
but smoked continuously, and drank spirits a good deal,
which they had not seen him do before. Nothing would induce
him to go out either day.
Strangely enough, this disturbance of their uncle's
equanimity synchronized with an apparent change in the
attitude of their new friends on the floor below.
This change was, indeed, more apparent than definable.
The ladies were, to the nicest scrutiny, as kindly
and affable as ever, but the sense of comradeship
had somehow vanished. Insensibly, the two parties
had ceased to have impulses and tastes in common.
There were no more trips together--no more fortuitous
luncheons or formal dinners as a group.
The young people looked up at the front of the big hotel
on this morning of departure, after they had clambered
over the drifts into the snow-bedecked train, and opened
the window of their compartment.
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