"I regret, my Lady, that I should have been so unfortunate as to startle
you," he said, with a certain underlying embarrassment in his manner.
"I had the honor of sending word by Mr. Moody that I would call at this
hour, on some matters of business connected with your Ladyship's house
property. I presumed that you expected to find me here, waiting your
pleasure--"
Thus far Lady Lydiard had listened to her legal adviser, fixing her eyes
on his face in her usually frank, straightforward way. She now stopped
him in the middle of a sentence, with a change of expression in her own
face which was undisguisedly a change to alarm.
"Don't apologize, Mr. Troy," she said. "I am to blame for forgetting
your appointment and for not keeping my nerves under proper control."
She paused for a moment and took a seat before she said her next words.
"May I ask," she resumed, "if there is something unpleasant in the
business that brings you here?"
"Nothing whatever, my Lady; mere formalities, which can wait till
to-morrow or next day, if you wish it."
Lady Lydiard's fingers drummed impatiently on the table. "You have known
me long enough, Mr. Troy, to know that I cannot endure suspense. You
_have_ something unpleasant to tell me."
The lawyer respectfully remonstrated. "Really, Lady Lydiard!--" he
began.
"It won't do, Mr. Troy! I know how you look at me on ordinary occasions,
and I see how you look at me now. You are a very clever lawyer; but,
happily for the interests that I commit to your charge, you are also a
thoroughly honest man.
Pages:
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56