Part 21 (2/2)

As they went down he asked her, ”Who's that with him in the car?”

”One of his friends. Staying with us.”

Something in her voice made it--afterwards--occur to him as odd that she spoke of one of ”his”, not one of ”our” friends, and did not mention her name.

”Well, the whole of Tidborough knows where you've been, Nona,” Lord Tybar greeted them. ”And a good place too.” He addressed the lady by his side. ”Puggo, look at those pulpits and things in the window. You never go to church. It'll do you good. That's a pulpit, that tall thing. They preach from that.”

The lady remarked, ”Thanks. I can remember it. At least I was married in a church, you know.”

”And, of course,” said Nona, ”you always remember you're married, don't you?”

Sabre glanced quickly at her. Her tone cut across the frivolous exchanges with an acid note. So utterly unlike Nona!

And the thing was real, not imagined; and went further. The uncommonly pretty woman addressed as Puggo replied, ”Oh, always. And so do you, don't you, dear?” and her uncommonly pretty eyes went in a quick glance from Nona's face to Sabre's, where they hovered the fraction of a moment, and thence to Lord Tybar's where also they hovered, and smiled.

And Lord Tybar, his small, handsome head slightly on one side, looked from one to another with precisely that mock in his glance that Sabre had noticed, and transiently wondered at, on the day he had met them riding.

Funny!

”But, Puggo, you don't know Sabre, do you?” Lord Tybar said. ”Sabre, this is Mrs. Winfred. A woman of mystery. One mystery is how she ever won Fred and the other why she is called Puggo. There must be something pretty dark in her past to have got her a name like Puggo.”

The woman of mystery shrugged her shoulders. ”Of course Tony's simply a fool,” she observed. ”You know that, don't you, Mr. Sabre?”

”It's not her face,” Lord Tybar continued. ”You might think it's her figure the way she hides it up under all those furs on a day like this.

But a pug's figure--”

Nona broke in. ”I suppose we're going to start some time?”

”Will you come and sit here?” Puggo inquired, but without making any movement.

”No, I'll sit behind.”

She got in. ”Good-by, Marko.” Her voice sounded tired. She gave Sabre her hand. ”Jolly, the books,” she said. ”And our talk.”

”Now throw yourself in front, any boy who wants to be killed,” Lord Tybar called to the idlers. ”No corpses to-day?” He let in the clutch.

”Good-by, Sabre. Good-by, good-by.” He waved his hand airily. The big car slid importantly up the street.

Sabre watched them pa.s.s out of sight. As the car turned out of The Precincts into High Street--a nasty corner--Lord Tybar, alone of the three, one hand on the steering wheel, half turned in his seat and twirled the silver-grey bowler in gay farewell.

Or mockery?

X

Through the day Sabre's thoughts, as a man sorting through many doc.u.ments and coming upon and retaining one, fined down towards a picture of himself alone with Nona--alone with her, watching her beautiful face--and saying to her: ”Look here, there were three things you said, three expressions you used. Explain them, Nona.”

Fined down towards this picture, sifting the doc.u.ments.

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