"I am in disgrace with you, I believe, and I want to hear from you what
I have done."
"It is what you have not done," returned Rachel, as she stood
imperiously before the lighted fire; and her bosom rose and fell, white
as the ornate mantelpiece of Carrara marble which gleamed behind her.
"And what, may I ask, is my latest sin of omission?"
Rachel rushed to the point with a passionate directness that did her no
discredit.
"Why have you pretended all these months that you never were in
Australia in your life? Why did you never tell me that you knew
Alexander Minchin out there?"
And she held her breath against the worst that he could do, being well
prepared for him to lose first his color and then the temper which he
had never lost since she had known him; to fly into a fury, to curse her
up hill and down dale--in a word, to behave as her first husband had
done more than once, but this one never. What Rachel did not anticipate
was a smile that cloaked not a single particle of surprise, and the
little cocksure bow that accompanied the smile.
"So you have found it out," said Steel, and his smile only ended as he
sipped his coffee; even then there was no end to it in his eyes.
Pages:
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184