He reviled himself as the weakest of men, as the falsest of friends, for still remaining near her--and yet he remained.
The silence continued.

The billiard-room door opened again noiselessly.
The face of the listening woman appeared stealthily behind it.
At the same moment Mercy roused herself and spoke: "Won't you sit down ?" she said, softly, still not looking round at him, still busy with her basket of wools.
He turned to get a chair--turned so quickly that he saw the billiard-room door move, as Grace Roseberry closed it again.
"Is there any one in that room ?" he asked, addressing Mercy.
"I don't know," she answered.

"I thought I saw the door open and shut again a little while ago." He advanced at once to look into the room.

As he did so Mercy dropped one of her balls of wool.

He stopped to pick it up for her--then threw open the door and looked into the billiard-room.