It tore his heart that she should use his name. To hear her say it had always been like a caress, and the word on her lips brought back once more the whole agony of his distress; but he would not allow his emotion to be seen. He turned round and faced her gravely. Now, for the first time, he did not hesitate to look at her. And while he spoke the words he set himself to speak, he noticed the exquisite oval of her face, her charming, soft hair, and her unhappy eyes. 'You see, Dick is married, and so I'm much best out of the way. When a man takes a wife, his bachelor friends are wise to depart from his life, gracefully, before he shows them that he needs their company no longer.' 'And besides Dick?' 'I have few friends and no relations. I can't flatter myself that anyone will be much distressed at my departure.' 'You must have no heart at all,' she said, in a low, hoarse voice. He clenched his teeth. He was bitterly angry with Julia because she had exposed him to this unspeakable torture. 'If I had I certainly should not bring it to the _Carlton Hotel_. That sentimental organ would be surely out of place in such a neighbourhood.' Lucy sprang to her feet. 'Oh, why do you treat me as if we were strangers? How can you be so cruel?' 'Flippancy is often the only refuge from an uncomfortable position,' he answered gravely. 'We should really be much wiser merely to discuss the weather.' 'Are you angry because I came?' 'That would be very ungracious on my part. Perhaps it wasn't quite necessary that we should meet again.' 'You've been acting all the time I've been here. Do you think I didn't see it was unreal, when you talked with such cynical indifference? I know you well enough to tell when you're hiding your real self behind a mask.' 'If that is so, the inference is obvious that I wish my real self to be hidden.' 'I would rather you cursed me than treat me with such cold politeness.' 'I'm afraid you're rather difficult to please,' he said. Lucy went up to him passionately, but he drew back so that she might not touch him. Her outstretched hands dropped powerless to her side. 'Oh, you're of iron,' she cried pitifully. 'Alec, Alec, I couldn't let you go without seeing you once more. Even you would be satisfied if you knew what bitter anguish I've suffered. Even you would pity me. I don't want you to think too badly of me.' 'Does it much matter what I think? We shall be five thousand miles apart.' 'You must utterly despise me.' He shook his head. And now his manner lost that affected calmness which had been so cruelly wounding. He could not now attempt to hide the pain that he was suffering. His voice trembled a little with his great emotion.