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Alma laughed; then she assumed an attitude of mock rapture, and quoted: "'Scintillate, scintillate, globule vivific, Fain would I fathom thy nature specific; Loftily poised in ether capacious, Strongly resembling the gem carbonaceous." There was a long silence. Alma's eyes were on the flying clouds. "Would would you mind saying that again, Alma?" asked Mrs. Kelsey at last timidly.
Yet there he was and with him Alma's Nemesis. She was very calm. Now that the worst had come, she felt quite strong to meet it. She would tell Gilbert the truth, and he would go away in anger and never forgive her, but she deserved it. As she went downstairs, the only thing that really worried her was the thought of the pain Gilbert would suffer when she told him of Anna's faithlessness.
From the first word her 'Ah, how d'you do' as he entered Alma's tone and manner appeared to him forced, odd, unlike anything he remembered of her. In correcting him, she gave a hard, short laugh, glancing at Dora Leach in a way verging upon the ill-bred.
She thought Harvey the best of husbands; he and Alma, the happiest of married folk. In secret, no doubt, she sadly envied them. If her own lot had fallen in such tranquil places! Two more days, and Alma received a reply to her invitation. Yes, Mrs Abbott would come, and be with them for a week; longer she could not. Her letter was amiable and well-worded as Alma's own.
It was at Pinner, not many minutes by rail from Alma's friends at Kingsbury-Neasden, and only about half an hour from Baker Street 'so convenient for the concerts'. A new house might be damp, but the summer months were hastening to dry it, and they would not enter into residence before the end of autumn. 'We must go and enjoy our heather, said Alma brightly.
Apparently she and her mother had both forgiven his neglect of them in the first months of their stay in New York; he was sure that Mrs. Leighton liked him as well as ever, and, if there was still something a little provisional in Alma's manner at times, it was something that piqued more than it discouraged; it made him curious, not anxious. He found the young ladies with Fulkerson when he rang.
Solace, however, was at hand, for the German girl looked at her with a new interest, a new sympathy, which Alma readily construed as wonder and admiration, if not gentle envy. To have refused an offer of marriage from a handsome man of great wealth might be counted for glory. And Alma's momentary shame yielded to a gratification which put her outwardly at ease.
It was with surprise, therefore, and some annoyance, that he received Alma's reply to his proposal for their going over to Gunnersbury next week. 'Are you quite sure, she said, rather coldly, 'that Mrs. Abbott will teach better than Pauline? 'It isn't only that. Hughie must have companions. I thought we had agreed about it. 'Have you inquired who his companions will be?
Having to start on her journey as early as half-past eight, Mrs. Abbott bade good-bye to her hostess the evening before, and nothing could have been kinder or more amiable than Alma's behaviour. 'Don't bear a grudge against me for spoiling your holiday, she said, holding her guest's hand and smiling brightly.
"What's all this?" she asked, passing it to the child. "It seems to be for you. There was nobody there, but I found that on the step." Alma's swollen eyes looked wonderingly at the box as she took off the cover and discovered the elaborate valentine. "My! What a beauty!" exclaimed her mother. The little girl lifted the red roses and looked at the verses.
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