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"Well," said Morrell cheerfully, after preliminary small talk had been disposed of, "how goes the fair Nancy?" Sansome's effeminately handsome face darkened. Things had in reality gone very badly with the fair Nancy. Her revulsion against Sansome at the time of the capture of the jail had been complete; and as is the case with real revulsions, she had not attempted to conceal it.
His apparent indifference added fuel to Nan's irritation. "If it hadn't been for Ben, I should have been stark, staring crazy, here all alone!". Keith for the first time appeared to notice Sansome's presence. He nodded at him wearily. "Mighty good of you," said he. "I appreciate it." "I thought some man ought to be in the house at a time of such public excitement," rejoined Sansome significantly.
Her anxiety for Keith's safety relieved, her whole reaction was indignantly toward Sansome. "I'm sorry to have you go," she said, with a feeling that other circumstances could not have called out, "I don't know what I'd have done without you!" Sansome's sensitive intuitions thrilled to the feeling. "Your husband is here to take care of you now," he murmured. "I must be off."
Nan's innocence of the matter in hand had not taken into account the intermediate stages of drunkenness, nor did she realize the strength inherent in the association of ideas. As she leaned forward to fill the glasses, Sansome's eyes brightened. He had seen women pouring wine many times before.
"If I can only keep him at this!" thought she desperately. She had drunk her glass of sherry because she felt she needed it. Now she poured another, and without comment, refilled Sansome's whiskey glass. "Here's to us!" she cried, lifting her glass.
Nan could not help visualizing Sansome's appreciation of such an occasion. The new coherence in society began to manifest itself in one important way: public gambling declined. In the "old days" it was said that everybody but clergymen frequented the big gambling halls. They were a sort of club. But now the most influential citizens began to stay away.
"By Gad!" he finished. "You know, I feel like a raw schoolboy, talkin' like this!" Morrell leaned forward, his reserve of manner laid aside, his whole being radiating sympathetic charm. "My dear chap, don't," he begged, laying his hand on Sansome's forearm. "A genuine passion is the most glorious thing on earth even in callow youth! But when we old men of the world " The pause was eloquent.
It's more cozy," she continued, at just the right moment to get her effect on his instinct of good manners. "Now, I will have that sherry. No, don't bother; it is next my hand. You must drink with me. Let me pour it for you with my own hands aren't you flattered?" She smiled across at him. This sudden reversion to an easy every-day plane had brought Sansome's first mood again to the surface.
Only a heightened colour and a sparkling eye might have betrayed her to an astute woman. Observing her, Ben Sansome took heart. It was evident to him that the Keiths had long since reached an absolute indifference in their relations, that they lived the conventional, tolerant, separate lives of the majority of married couples in Ben Sansome's smart acquaintance.
But at this Keith's attention was attracted. He sprang forward, seized Sansome's arm, insisted on introducing him to Nan, was over-effusive, over-cordial, buoyant. Both Sansome and Mrs. Sherwood were experienced enough to yield entirely to his mood.
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