When the evening approached, he took the precaution
of having his own discreet and faithful servant in attendance, to
receive Lady Harry at the door of the hotel, before the ringing of the
bell could summon the porter from his lodge. On calm consideration, the
chances seemed to be in favour of her escaping detection by Lord Harry.
The jealous husband of the stage, who sooner (or later) discovers the
innocent (or guilty) couple, as the case may be, is not always the
husband of the world outside the theatre. With this fragment of
experience present in his mind, Hugh saw the door of his sitting-room
cautiously opened, at an earlier hour than he had anticipated. His
trustworthy representative introduced a lady, closely veiled--and that
lady was Iris.
CHAPTER XXXII
GOOD-BYE TO IRIS
LADY HARRY lifted her veil, and looked at Mountjoy with sad entreaty in
her eyes. "Are you angry with me?" she asked.
"I ought to be angry with you," he said. "This is a very imprudent,
Iris."
"It's worse than that," she confessed. "It's reckless and desperate.
Don't say I ought to have controlled myself. I can't control the shame
I feel when I think of what has happened. Can I let you go--oh, what a
return for your kindness!--without taking your hand at parting? Come
and sit by me on the sofa.
Pages:
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307