Even at that distance they could be
seen to be of high fashion; in their gait was the almost insolent poise
of those who are above doubts and cares, certain of the world and of
themselves. The girl's dress was tawny brown, her hair and hat too
of the same hue, and the pursuing sunlight endowed her with a hazy
splendour. Then, Courtier saw who they were--that couple!
Except for an unconscious grinding of his teeth, he made no sound or
movement, so that they went by without seeing him. Her voice, though
not the words, came to him distinctly. He saw her hand slip up under
Harbinger's arm and swiftly down again. A smile, of whose existence he
was unaware, settled on his lips. He got up, shook himself, as a dog
shakes off a beating, and walked away, with his mouth set very firm.
CHAPTER XXIV
Left alone among the little mahogany tables of Gustard's, where the
scent of cake and of orange-flower water made happy all the air, Barbara
had sat for some minutes, her eyes cast down--as a child from whom a toy
has been taken contemplates the ground, not knowing precisely what she
is feeling. Then, paying one of the middle-aged females, she went out
into the Square. There a German band was playing Delibes' Coppelia; and
the murdered tune came haunting her, a very ghost of incongruity.
She went straight back to Valleys House.
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