‘I’m very glad.’ She moved her hand rather shyly up and down his arm with a little caressing movement. ‘I-I meant to be comforting,’ she said gently, ‘but I think I must just have sounded aggressive and rather shameless.’
He laughed softly, even a little teasingly. ‘Not aggressive exactly. Merely as though you were sure you knew what was best for us. And as for being shameless, why, the only time you raised your eyes to my face was when I deliberately told you to.’
‘Oh.’ She coloured.
Then she saw suddenly that he was not noticing her any more. An idea seemed to have struck him. He put her away from him, gently but quite firmly, and, getting up, began to walk up and down the room.
She watched him nervously, and, when he stopped abruptly in front of her, she got hastily to her feet as though feeling a little foolish at discovering that she was still crouching there.
‘Would you be very much afraid if I took you back into that room with me now, and told them I was engaged to you?’ His curiously light grey eyes looked cold and brilliant in his dark face.
‘Why, of course not,’ she said gently. ‘At least-if you think that is the best way to do it, I’m quite ready. It’s going to be rather a shock for them, whichever way we choose.’
‘Yes,’ he said, ‘it’s going to be rather a shock.’ And, at the expression on his face, Alison caught herself hoping nervously that she would never make him look like that. He was a good hater, she could see.
‘Give me your hand, Alison,’ he said abruptly.
‘My hand? Why?’
He looked a little drily amused at that.
‘Why do you think?’ he said as he drew off his signet ring.
‘Oh!’ Alison went scarlet and then white.
‘It’s only a makeshift, of course. I’ll buy you a real one to-morrow-whatever you like. But I’m going to make them all believe that Rosalie and I parted by mutual consent, because we both wanted someone else.’
She bit her lip sharply. There was something of the angry, hurt boy about this feverish, transparent effort to ease his crushed pride, to take away the sting of the frightful humiliation Rosalie had put on him.
‘I think it’s a good idea,’ she said in a resolutely matter-of-fact tone, and was touched again to see the relief in his face.
She held out her left hand, the fingers spread out a little, and he put his signet ring on her finger.
It was large for her and slipped round, so that only the plain gold band of the inside showed.
‘Prophetic,’ remarked Julian, and laughed slightly.
‘Yes,’ Alison said, but her voice was only a whisper, for an odd lump seemed to have lodged in her throat.
Then he drew her arm lightly through his, and they went out of the room together.
The first person they met was Uncle Theodore, who was crossing the hall.
‘Julian, I’m dreadfully sorry about this disgraceful business,’ he began. Then, as he noticed Alison’s insignificant presence: ‘Run along, Alison. I want to speak to Mr. Tyndrum a moment.’
She would have gone at once, used as she was to effacing herself, but Julian pressed his arm against his side so that she couldn’t withdraw her hand.
‘You really mustn’t distress yourself about it, Mr. Leadburn,’ he said pleasantly and casually. ‘I’m afraid you’ve heard only half of the story-especially since you suggest that Alison should leave us.’
‘Alison?’ Uncle Theodore had evidently never supposed that his niece counted for much in any domestic crisis.
‘Certainly.’ Julian was smiling a little now, and he calmly drew his arm away, to put it lightly round her. ‘Alison and I are engaged.’
‘Alison and you!’ Uncle Theodore looked stupefied, and Alison thought irrelevantly that she had never seen his expression change so often in so short a time.
‘Yes.’ Julian glanced down at her with an appearance of tenderness which shook her badly. ‘Rosalie’s-courageous frankness about her preference for Myrton served my happiness as well as hers. It left me free to admit that I too had made a mistake which I was anxious to repair.’
‘Rosalie’s what’?’ said Uncle Theodore contemptuously. ‘You know as well as I do that her motive was just selfish spite.’
‘But need we examine Rosalie’s motives so closely,’ Julian said mildly, ‘since we are all quite happy at what has happened?’
Alison marvelled at the calm way he withstood her uncle’s penetrating look. She herself trembled a little when it was turned to her.
‘And what have you to say about it, Alison?’ Her uncle’s tone was not unkindly; only puzzled.
‘I’m very happy,’ she said softly. And she supposed that in a sense that was true.
‘Hm! Been eating your heart out for Julian all along, I suppose?’ he said drily.
She couldn’t quite make herself answer that in words. It was too uncomfortably near the truth. So she just nodded, and stared hard at the ground.
‘Well’-her uncle turned back to Julian, his air not un-tinged with amusement-’I suppose I don’t need to tell you that I think you’re less to be pitied than Myrton.’
‘I assure you I don’t feel in any need of pity,’ Julian said, smiling. And Alison was oddly certain that it gave immense satisfaction to his battered self-respect to be able to say that.
‘Have you told my wife yet?’
‘No. Events followed too quickly on each other, you see.’ Julian was imperturbable still. ‘But I think we must go and tell her now.’
‘Yes, by all means let us go and tell her,’ agreed Uncle Theodore.
When they came into the room, a few couples were drifting about the floor to the strains of dance-music from the radio. But most of the company was gathered about Rosalie, laughing and talking.
For a second Alison felt Julian’s hand tightened unbearably on her arm. She gasped slightly, not so much with the pain of his grip as the pain of knowing that the very sight of another girl could move him so profoundly.
He murmured a word of apology, and at that moment Rosalie saw him. She was evidently taken aback at seeing him still there after his dismissal, but, recovering herself immediately, she addressed him a little defiantly across the room.
‘Won’t you come and drink to my happy engagement, too, Julian?’
In the startled, amused hush that fell upon the others, he came slowly forward.
‘Of course.’ He took the glass steadily from her fingers. ‘And in return you must drink to mine.’
‘What-do you mean?’
Rosalie’s own glass shook, so that some of the wine spilled and ran down over her fingers.
‘Simply that our mutual decision earlier in the evening left us both free to repair a-mutual mistake.’ Julian smiled full at her-not insolently, but with a sort of dangerous courtesy. ‘While I drink to your happiness with Myrton, you must drink to my happiness with Alison.’ And he bowed slightly to her over the rim of his glass.
‘Alison!’
Rosalie turned quite pale with shocked anger, while a little ripple of laughter and something like applause went round the group.
‘Are you surprised? Then I must have hidden my feelings better than I knew. But now you know, I’m sure you will not grudge us your congratulations. Your health and happiness, Rosalie-and you too, Myrton.’ And he turned for a moment to the blond youngster who was Rosalie’s latest acquisition.
‘Very well done,’ murmured Uncle Theodore to no one in particular. But Alison heard him.
She supposed she ought to find some sort of satisfaction in this turning of the tables on Rosalie. But she felt no such thing. Instead, there was just a scared distress in her heart, a cold sense of apprehension. For it was her engagement- her one precious, fragile link with Julian-that was the subject of this frightening duel.