Amias was smoking as usual in the porch, and Verity was with him.
The lamplight from within fell full on Malcolm's face as he approached them.

Verity gave a start.
"Oh, how tired you look!" she said in quite a shocked voice.

Malcolm gave her a weary smile.
"I have had a long walk," he returned.

"It was such a lovely evening, so I resolved to miss supper for once." He tried to speak in a jaunty fashion, but it was a ghastly failure, and he knew it.

He was so sick and faint with inanition that he felt as though he could not utter another word.