And"--he looked back from the door
of his own apartments--"I got Julius Neergard on the wire this afternoon
and he'll dine with us."
He gathered up his shimmering kimona, hesitated, halted, and again
looked back.
"When you're dressed," he drawled, "I've a word to say to you about the
game to-night, and another about Gerald."
"I shall not play," she retorted scornfully, "nor will Gerald."
"Oh, yes, you will--and play your best, too. And I'll expect him next
time."
"I shall not play!"
He said deliberately: "You will not only play, but play cleverly; and in
the interim, while dressing, you will reflect how much more agreeable it
is to play cards here than the fool at ten o'clock at night in the
bachelor apartments of your late lamented."
And he entered his room; and his wife, getting blindly to her feet,
every atom of colour gone from lip and cheek, stood rigid, both small
hands clutching the foot-board of the gilded bed.
CHAPTER VI
THE UNEXPECTED
Differences of opinion between himself and Neergard concerning the
ethics of good taste involved in forcing the Siowitha Club matter,
Gerald's decreasing attention to business and increasing intimacy with
the Fane-Ruthven coterie, began to make Selwyn very uncomfortable.
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