I beg your pardon! I hope that wasn't my fault." The Baroness had dropped her lorgnettes on the floor.

She stooped instantly to discover them, rejecting almost peremptorily Wrayson's aid.
When she sat up again she pushed her chair a little further back.
"It was my clumsiness entirely," she declared.

"Ah! it is more restful here.

The lights are a little trying in front.

You are wiser than I, my dear Louise, to have chosen a seat back there." She turned towards the girl as she spoke, and Wrayson fancied that there was some subtle meaning in the swift glance which passed between the two.
Almost involuntarily he leaned forward once more and looked downwards.
Heneage's inscrutable face was still upturned in their direction.