manner. He had laid off his hat and gloves and was now fidgeting
with the little toilet pieces which were nearest him. He
hesitated to believe that the pretty woman before him was
involved in anything so unsatisfactory to himself. He was very
much inclined to feel that it was all right, after all. Yet the
knowledge imparted to him by the chambermaid was rankling in his
mind. He wanted to plunge in with a straight remark of some
sort, but he knew not what.

"Where did you go this morning?" he finally asked weakly.

"Why, I went for a walk," said Carrie.

"Sure you did?" he asked.

"Yes, what makes you ask?"

She was beginning to see now that he knew something. Instantly
she drew herself into a more reserved position. Her cheeks
blanched slightly.

"I thought maybe you didn't," he said, beating about the bush in
the most useless manner.

Carrie gazed at him, and as she did so her ebbing courage halted.
She saw that he himself was hesitating, and with a woman's
intuition realised that there was no occasion for great alarm.

"What makes you talk like that?" she asked, wrinkling her pretty
forehead. "You act so funny to-night."