If he had only remained
in the gallery, he might have become acquainted with the form of
persuasion used to induce a man so unsocial as Romayne to accept an
invitation. "I have myself to blame," he thought bitterly, "for being
left in the dark."
"Anything wrong with the coffee?" Miss Notman asked anxiously.
He rushed on his fate. He said, "Nothing whatever. Pray go on."
Miss Notman went on.
"You see, Father, Lady Loring was unusually particular about the dinner
on this occasion. She said, 'Lord Loring reminds me that Mr. Romayne is
a very little eater, and yet very difficult to please in what he does
eat.' Of course I consulted my experience, and suggested exactly the
sort of dinner that was wanted under the circumstances. I wish to do
her ladyship the utmost justice. She made no objection to the dinner in
itself. On the contrary, she complimented me on what she was pleased to
call my ready invention. But when we came next to the order in which
the dishes were to be served--" Miss Notman paused in the middle of
the sentence, and shuddered over the private and poignant recollections
which the order of the dishes called up.
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