“He would like some, Mrs. Austin, please.” Gina smiled at the woman and waved her hand to the sofa. “Sit down, animal, and don’t stand there goggling at me. What’s the matter? Can’t we go to the Athertons this afternoon after all? Good heavens, it doesn’t matter. Don’t look like that.”
Mike sat down heavily and raised his eyes to hers.
“Paul’s dead,” he said.
She had been in the act of placing a couple of envelopes in the flames when he spoke, and now her arrested movement, the shoulder half turned, the head bent, was more expressive than any sound she could have uttered. He dropped down on the rug beside her and put a hand on the small woollen back.
“Gina, I didn’t mean to say it like that. Oh, my God, I am a fool!”
She turned to him at once. Her face was very pale, her eyes wide and
