Wilkinson had manners, but she knew he did not like to be robbed of an easy victim, and it was possible that he had let Bob win until he was drunk enough to be fleeced.

She waited a few moments to let the others go, and then went upstairs and stopped in a passage that led to her room.

Her face was hot and she breathed fast, for her part in the scene had cost her something.

It would have been different had Charnock not been there; she could have dealt with the others, but he had made her ashamed.

Then she heard his step and turned with passionate anger as he came along the passage.