Her voice was the voice of a cultivated woman, and Tallente,
as he mostly listened to her light ripple of conversation, realised that
the charm which was hers by reputation was by no means undeserved. In
many ways she astonished him. The stories which had been told of her,
even written, were incredible, yet her manners were entirely the manners
of one of his own world. The trio--Dartrey, with his silence and
occasional monosyllabic remarks--seemed to draw closer together at every
moment until Miller, obviously chafing at his isolation, thrust himself
into the conversation.
"Mr. Tallente," he said, taking advantage of a moment's pause to direct
the conversation into a different channel, "we kept our word at
Hellesfield."
"You did," his host acknowledged drily. "You succeeded in cheating me
out of the seat. I still don't know why."
He turned as though appealing to Dartrey, and Dartrey accepted the
challenge, swinging a little around in his chair and tapping his
cigarette against the table, preparatory to lighting it.
"You lost Hellesfield, Mr.
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