She took her seat; Mrs. Hannaford stood awaiting the departure of
the train. Before it moved, the man Irene had noticed came back
along the platform, and passed them without a sign. Irene saw his
face, and seemed to recognise it, but could not remember who he was.
Half an hour later, the face came back to her, and with it a name.
"Daniel Otway!" she exclaimed to herself.
It was five years and more since her one meeting with him at Ewell,
but the man, on that occasion, had impressed her strongly in a very
disagreeable way. She had since heard of him, in relation to Piers
Otway's affairs, and knew that her aunt had received a call from him
in Bryanston Square. What could be the meaning of this incident on
the platform? Irene wondered, and had an unpleasant feeling about
it.
CHAPTER XX
On the journey homeward, and for two or three days after, Piers held
argument with his passions, trying to persuade himself that he had
in truth lost nothing, inasmuch as his love had never been founded
upon a reasonable hope. Irene Derwent was neither more nor less to
him now than she had been ever since he first came to know her: a
far ideal, the woman he would fain call wife, but only in a dream
could think of winning. What audacity had speeded him on that wild
expedition? It was well that he had been saved from declaring his
folly to Irene herself, who would have shared the pain her answer
inflicted.
Pages:
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254