To her delight and relief she found it an easy task to face Hugh
Johnstone, after that one reassuring glance. Her stern employer
failed to pierce the muslin fortifications of her guilty bosom and
discern the moral turpitude lurking there. She stole a last anxious
glance at her still plump wrist where the diamond bracelet had
softly clasped her flesh, and then softly sighed in relief as the
master calmly said:
"Miss Justine, I have a gentleman of some distinction to entertain
to-day at tiffin. An official visitor. I would be thankful if you
would do the honors. Will you kindly join us in the reception room
in half an hour, and I will present Major Hawke, my old friend. He
has just returned from England."
"And Miss Nadine?" meekly demanded the happy woman. The old
Commissioner's brow darkened, as he shortly said: "My daughter will
be served in her rooms, as usual on such formal occasions. These
interlopers are no part of her life. We may soon leave for Europe,
and she is therefore better off to remain a stranger to these
merely local acquaintances. It is very unlikely that we shall ever
re-visit India! Will you see her and say that I purpose driving
out with her later?"
No woman in India was as happy, at that particular moment, as the
Genevese, who merely bowed in silence, and glided softly away,
having escaped the levin-bolt of Hugh Johnstone's wrath, ever
ready, lurking under his bushy, white eyebrows.
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