"I can assure you," he answered, "that it isn't a habit of mine. But
seriously----"
"Well seriously?"
"Isn't it your own fault a little? Why do you not tell me your
address, and allow me to call upon you."
"Why should I? I have told you that I do not wish for acquaintances in
London."
"Perhaps not in a general way," he answered calmly. "You are quite
right, I think. Only I am not an acquaintance at all. I am an old
friend, and I declined to be shelved."
"Would you mind telling me," Anna asked, "how long I knew you in
Paris?"
He looked at her sideways. There was nothing to be learned from her
face.
"Well," he said slowly, "I had met you three times--before Drummond's
dinner."
"Oh, Drummond's dinner!" she repeated. "You were there, were you?"
He laughed a little impatiently.
"Isn't that rather a strange question--under the circumstances?" he
asked quietly.
Her cheeks flushed a dull red. She felt that there was a hidden
meaning under his words. Yet her embarrassment was only a passing
thing. She dismissed the whole subject with a little shrug of the
shoulders.
"We are both of us trenching upon forbidden ground," she said. "It was
perhaps my fault. You have not forgotten----"
"I have forgotten nothing?" he answered, enigmatically.
Anna hailed a bus. He looked at her reproachfully. The bus however was
full. They fell into step again. More than ever a sense of confusion
was upon Ennison.
"Last time I saw you," he reminded her, "you spoke, did you not, of
obtaining some employment in London."
"Quite true," she answered briskly, "and thanks to you I have
succeeded."
"Thanks to me," he repeated, puzzled. "I don't understand."
"No? But it is very simple. It was you who were so much amazed that I
did not try--the music hall stage here."
"You must admit," he declared, "that to us--who had seen you--the
thought of your trying anything else was amazing."
"At any rate," she declared, "your remarks decided me. I have an
engagement with a theatrical agent--I believe for the 'Unusual'."
"You are going to sing in London?" he said quietly.
"Yes."
For a moment or two he did not speak. Glancing towards him she saw
that a shadow had fallen upon his face.
"Tell me," she insisted, "why you look like that. You are afraid--that
here in London--I shall not be a success. It is that, is it not?"
"No," he answered readily. "It is not that. The idea of your being a
failure would never have occurred to me."
"Then why are you sorry that I am going to the 'Unusual'? I do not
understand."
Their eyes met for a moment. His face was very serious.
"I am sorry," he said slowly. "Why, I do not know."