"
When Grayson still hesitated he made a move toward the staircase,
and the elderly servant, astounded at the speech and the movement,
put down the hat and faced him.
"I do not recognize any one in the household by that name, sir."
"You don't, don't you? Very well. Tell Miss Cardew I am here, and
that either she will come down or I'll go up. I'll wait in the
library."
He watched Grayson start up the stairs, and then went into the
library. He was very carefully dressed, and momentarily exultant
over the success of his ruse, but he was uneasy, too, and wary,
and inclined to regard the house as a possible trap. He had made
a gambler's venture, risking everything on the cards he held, and
without much confidence in them. His vanity declined to believe
that his old power over Lily was gone, but he had held a purely
physical dominance over so many women that he knew both his
strength and his limitations.
What he could not understand, what had kept him awake so many nights
since he had seen her, was her recoil from him on Willy Cameron's
announcement. She had known he had led the life of his sort; he
had never played the plaster saint to her.
Pages:
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439
440
441
442
443
444
445
446
447
448
449
450
451
452