Major Hawke found the tete e tete dinner with Hugh Johnstone a mere
dull social parade. There was no demure face at the feast slyly
regarding him, for while the two watchful secret foes exchanged
old reminiscence and newer gossip, Justine Delande was cheering
the lonely girl, whose silent mutiny as to her shining prison life
now reached almost an open revolt. It was a grateful relief to the
Swiss woman, whose agitated heart was softly beating the refrain:
"To-morrow! to-morrow! I shall see him again!" She feared a
self-betrayal!
While the governess mused upon the extent of her proposed revelations to
the handsome Major, that rising social star had adroitly exploited
his long tete e tete with Captain Hardwicke to his host, and
gracefully magnified the warmth of General Willoughby's personal
welcome.
"You see, Johnstone," patiently admitted the man who had dropped
into a good thing, "They all want to delve into the secrets of my
mission here. You, of all men," he meaningly said, "cannot blame
me for throwing the dust into their eyes. I detest this intrusion,
and so in sheer self-defense I am going to give a formal dinner
to a lot of these bores, and then cut the whole lot when I've once
done the decent thing." Circling and circling, and yet never daring
to approach the subject, old Hugh Johnstone warily returned to the
suspended baronetcy affair, at last revealing his secret burning
anxieties.
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