added.

"Shall we go there and wait for him?" asked Malling.

"But I'm afraid I'm taking up your time."

"I have no engagements this afternoon. I shall enjoy a quiet talk with
you."

"It's very good of you."

They descended, and sat down in a quiet corner. In the distance a few
respectable persons were slowly eating bath-buns with an air of fashion,
their duly marked catalogues laid beside them on marble.

Far-off waiters, standing with their knees bent, conversed in
undertones. A sort of subterranean depression, peculiar to this
fastness of Burlington House, brooded over the china and the provisions.

"It reminds me of the British Museum tearoom," said Lady Sophia. "Here is
tea! What a mercy! Modern pictures sap one's little strength."

She looked haggard, and was obviously on the edge of her nerves.

"Marcus might have come in," she added. "But of course he wouldn't--or
couldn't."

"Doesn't he care for pictures?"

She slightly shrugged her shoulders.