"Left carelessly under the edge of the hearth-rug.

A very bad break." He paid his bill, and taking his hat, sauntered out into the Strand.

The carelessness which had left the check underneath the hearth-rug was not, however, the only bad break made in connection with this affair.

At a certain moment during luncheon Garratt Skinner had unwisely smiled and had not quite concealed the smile with his hand.

Against her every wish, that smile forced itself upon Sylvia's recollections as she drove home.
She tried to interpret it in every pleasant sense, but it kept its true character in her thoughts, try as she might.