For, among the overanimated and almost boisterous group which was attracting the attention of everybody in the vicinity sat Mrs.Jack Ruthven.

And Selwyn saw her.
For a moment he looked at her--looked at Gerald beside her, and Neergard on the other side, and Rosamund opposite; and at the others, whom he had never before seen.

Then quietly, but with heightened colour, he turned his attention to the glass which the servant had just filled for him, and, resting his hand on the stem, stared at the bubbles crowding upward through it to the foamy brim.
Nina and Boots had begun, ostentatiously, an exceedingly animated conversation; and they became almost aggressive, appealing to Austin, who sat back with a frown on his heavy face--and to Eileen, who was sipping her mineral water and staring thoughtfully at a big, round, orange-tinted lantern which hung like the harvest moon behind Gerald, throwing his curly head into silhouette.
[Illustration: "Gerald beside her, and Neergard on the other side."] What conversation there was to carry, Boots and Nina carried.

Austin silently satisfied his hunger, eating and drinking with a sullen determination to make no pretence of ignoring a situation that plainly angered him deeply.

And from minute to minute he raised his head to glare across at Gerald, who evidently was unconscious of the presence of his own party.
When Nina spoke to Eileen, the girl answered briefly but with perfect composure.