Nothing of his thought showed, however, in his impassive countenance. He stood up and held out his hand.
"My old man with the pneumonia is waiting," he said, "and you'll want to visit a bit with Bettina."
"But there's one thing," he continued hurriedly "that I'd like to speak of before I leave--to have settled. Do you think it will be wise to make a public announcement of our engagement?"
Bettina glanced from one to the other, conscious of some undercurrent of feeling which she did not share.
"It's just this way," said Anthony, slowly; "if Bettina could meet your friends and mine, under your auspices, chaperoned by you, they would discover her charms and loveliness," he smiled at the girl, "and they'd then welcome her with open arms. Now she knows none of them; it would be only on your account that she would be received, not upon her own, and I think she'd like the other better Diana. What do you think, Bettina?" he asked. "It is for you to say."
Bettina, who was making a tiny white nosegay of lilacs to pin on Anthony's coat, turned to them a sparkling countenance.
"Me--does it matter? Does anything matter except that I am going to marry you, Anthony?"
She held out her hands to him, laughing over her shoulder at Diana. With her flower face, her hair of gold, her figure slim and swaying like a lily on its stem, she was radiantly, almost impertinently young, and, with a sudden sense of age and weariness, Diana buried her face in the lilacs to hide a whiteness which matched their own.
But she had not been quick enough to escape the keen eyes of Anthony.
He dropped Bettina's hands. "I'll stop to-morrow morning, child, on my way to the sanatorium, and take you over."
"And dine with us later," said Diana. "I'm going to have a lot of people. It will be a sort of impromptu housewarming. I've telephoned about a dozen old friends."
"But I haven't anything to wear." Bettina was again in a panic.
"You'll have about twelve hours to get ready," Diana comforted; "we can do a lot in that time."
But her mind was not on clothes, for she followed the doctor out into the hall to say, "She's just sweet, Anthony----"
"Don't," suddenly all the calm of his fine face was broken up, "don't, Diana----"