For his immense height alone attracted attention, while wherever his
strange, bright, sea-green glance fell there was left behind a little
recollection which would never be quite effaced.
As he skilfully edged his way nearer to the Prime Minister, Westerham
suffered a little pang of remorse. It occurred to him that he was
taking Lady Kathleen at a somewhat unfair advantage. He had even half
a mind to draw back, fearing lest his unlooked-for appearance might
cause her an embarrassment which might become obvious to all beholders,
but he reflected that a girl who had displayed such courage and such
coolness was more than likely to be equal to the occasion. None the
less, he endeavoured, so far as he could, to soften the shock of their
meeting, and to this end he looked over the heads and shoulders of the
tightly-packed people before him, seeking Lady Kathleen's eyes.
Suddenly her wandering glance met his fixed one, and for a second
Westerham's heart softened within him as he saw her pupils momentarily
shrink and then dilate as though with terror. But the contraction and
dilation of her pupils were so swift that no one but an expectant
observer would have noted the change. Her face paled a little and then
flushed, and Westerham, from the long-continued habit of studying
people's emotions, realised with distress that it was the flush of fear
rather than the flush of confusion.
By this time Melun had won his way to the Prime Minister's hand, and
Westerham followed him closely. Lord Penshurst lifted his shrewd old
eyes to Westerham's face with a long, searching gaze. And over his face
there swept a sudden change of expression. As Melun had whispered his
name the old man's face had taken a hard and almost dogged look, but
instantly it softened, and he looked at Westerham long with something
akin to wondering pity in his eyes.
Westerham smiled back frankly, laughing a little to himself at the
change in the Prime Minister's expression. He was quick to see that
Lord Penshurst had evidently regarded him at first as an enemy, as
a man to be avoided, as a man introduced by Melun for some sinister
motive. Then suddenly, from the very honesty and openness of
Westerham's face, the Premier had changed about to the opinion that
he was Melun's dupe—that he was a new pigeon fit for the captain's
plucking. For Westerham by this time had not a shadow of a doubt that
Lord Penshurst was only too intimately acquainted with the extent of
Melun's evil doings.
With Lady Kathleen, however, things were otherwise. Westerham had noted
that to the other man she had merely bowed, but to him she held out her
hand, and for a second grasped his warmly.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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