She buried her head for very shame. Her last words were barely audible. She longed to look at him to learn what was in his face, but did not dare. Meer did not leave her long in doubt. "My dear," he said, moved to the very heart of him. "That is between you and me—and God." XLI After leaving Alexandra that morning Maggy had driven to Woolf’s club. They had arranged to lunch together at some restaurant, but instead he bore her off to her flat, scarcely vouchsafing a word to her on the way. That he was in a towering rage she could see plainly enough. The reason for it she could not guess. He was apt to lose his temper. At such times she would tactfully wait until he had calmed down. Now, however, she was hungry and wanted her lunch, so she naturally asked for it. "Where did you think of going for lunch?" To her surprise he burst out violently: "Lunch be damned! You’ll have lunch by yourself in future." "What’s the matter? What have I done?" she asked, placably enough. "I’ve found you out, that’s all." Not another word could she extract from him until they were in the flat. Coaxing and gentleness only made him more morose. She began to feel afraid. What she could not see, because she did not know that the stage had lost quite a convincingly bombastic actor in Woolf, was that much of his anger was assumed; nor did she know that he was spoiling for a quarrel and that he had found a very good handle upon which to hang one. So blinded was she by her devotion that, except for the fact that since his return she had seen less of him than usual, she had not observed a certain weariness in his manner toward her. She did not at all know what he meant by saying he had found her out. Hoping to placate him by a show of affection she made an attempt to kiss him. But he repulsed her. "I’ve had enough of that," he scowled. "It’s all shammed, and it comes easy to you, my girl. I was up here half-an-hour ago and I saw your dressing-case." "Well," she rejoined, "you’ve seen it before, haven’t you?" "Not with a sheet of headed notepaper sticking out of it—Purton Towers, that swine Chalfont’s place!" Maggy’s face cleared. She thought she knew now what the storm portended and how to weather it. "Oh, is that all?" she said lightly. "I took it to wrap my toothbrush in, you goose! I was going to tell you about it all, but I forgot because I was so happy at having you back." "A likely story! You expect me to believe you forgot to admit you’ve been carrying on with Chalfont!" "Oh, Fred!" she cried, horrified at the allegation. "Well, let’s have your expurgated version of it." "I went there for Christmas with Lexie. And the Honorable Mrs. Pardiston, his aunt, was there too. We went to church, and there was a Christmas tree and a children’s party. It was all quite proper and perfectly glorious. Lord Chalfont wouldn’t do anything that was underhand."