I do not wish to
retract those words, and I think that in them you will find an answer
to your question."
He coloured. "You put the matter in a very business-like way," he
said.
"It is best put so, Mr. Cossey," she answered with a faint shade of
bitterness in her tone; "it preserves me from feeling under an
obligation--will you see my father about these mortgages?"
"Yes, to-morrow. And now I will say good-bye to you," and he took her
hand, and with some little hesitation kissed it. She made no
resistance and showed no emotion.
"Yes," she answered, "we have been here some time; Mrs. Quest will
wonder what has become of you."
It was a random arrow, but it went straight home, and for the third
time that day Edward Cossey reddened to the roots of his hair. Without
answering a word he bowed and went.
When Ida saw this, she was sorry she had made the remark, for she had
no wish to appear to Mr. Cossey (the conquest of whom gave her neither
pride nor pleasure) in the light of a spiteful, or worst still, of a
jealous woman. She had indeed heard some talk about him and Mrs.
Quest, but not being of a scandal-loving disposition it had not
interested her, and she had almost forgotten it. Now however she
learned that there was something in it.
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