"Then you were not surprised that I came?" he insisted.
"You did not wait to be asked. That surprised me a little."
"I did wait. But you didn't ask me."
"That seems to have made no difference to you," she retorted,
laughing.
"It made this difference. I seized upon the only excuse I had and
came to pay my respects as a kinsman. Do you know that I am a
relation?"
"That is a very pretty compliment to us all, I think."
"It is you who are kind in accepting me."
"As a relative, I am very glad to----"
"I came," he said, "to see you. And you know it."
"But you couldn't do that, uninvited! I had not asked you."
"But--it's done," he said.
She sat very still, considering him. Within her, subtle currents
seemed to be contending once more, disturbing her equanimity. She
said, sweetly:
"I am not as offended as I ought to be. But I do not see why you
should disregard convention with me."
"I didn't mean it that way," he said, leaning forward. "I couldn't
stand not seeing you. That was all. Convention is a pitiful
thing--sometimes--" He hesitated, then fell to studying the carpet.
She looked at him, silent in her uncertainty. His expression was
grave, almost absent-minded. And again her troubled eyes rested on
the disturbing symmetry of feature and figure in all the
unconscious grace of repose; and in his immobility there seemed
something even of nobility about him which she had not before
noticed.
She stole another glance at him. He remained very still, leaning
forward, apparently quite oblivious of her. Then he came to
himself with a quick smile, which she recognised as characteristic
of all that disturbed her about this man--a smile in which there
was humour, a little malice and self-sufficiency and--many, many
things she did not try to analyse.
"Don't you really want an unreliable servant?" he asked.
His perverse humour perplexed her, but she smiled.
"Don't you remember that I once asked you if you needed an
able-bodied man?" he insisted.
She nodded.
"Well, I'm that man."
She assented, smiling conventionally, not at all understanding. He
laughed, too, thoroughly enjoying something.
"It isn't really very funny," he said, "Ask your brother-in-law. I
had an interview with him before I came here. And I think there's
a chance that he may give me a desk and a small salary in his
office."