"If you're going to bullyrag me...." he began blusteringly, "I may as well tell you that I'm not going back to Paris till I please, and----"
"Very well," said Micky. He turned on his heel.
Raymond watched him cross the room anxiously. When he reached the door he called to him--
"Micky! What the devil are you going to do?"
"I'm going to tell Mrs. Clare the way you've treated Miss Shepstone, and if she's half the decent sort I think she is she'll throw you overboard as you've thrown scores of others...."
Ashton followed and clutched his arm. "Come back; don't be such a firebrand! I'll go--I'll clear out by the first train to-morrow.... I'm sorry if Esther was upset, but...."
Micky cut him short. "The first train leaves Victoria at 9.40; I'll be there to see you off."
Ashton scowled. "It's a nice way to treat a friend," he grumbled. "If there's really anything up with Lallie ..."
"It's decent of you to take her out," Ashton went on uneasily. "I'm much obliged to you, I'm sure. She's never had much of a time. If I'd had any money...."
Micky broke out then. "Oh, hold your infernal tongue," he said furiously.
He walked out of the room, shutting the door hard behind him. He passed the astonished maid in the hall and let himself out into the night. The blood was pounding in his veins, he felt in actual need of physical violence; he did not know how he had managed to keep his hands off Raymond. He walked on at a furious pace; presently he laughed with a sort of self-pity.
What was the good of what he had done after all? At best he had only succeeded in staving off the inevitable for a little while; Esther would have to know sooner or later.
Such wasted love it was! All for a man who was not worth one thought, or even a tear!
When he got back to his rooms he told Driver to call him early, as he was going to see somebody off by train. He was at Victoria long before Ashton; the greeting between the two men was constrained.
"I was going back to-day, anyway," Ashton said jauntily. "I'm going to be married the day after to-morrow----" He looked at Micky with triumphant eyes. "To Mrs. Clare," he added.
When Micky got back to his rooms, Driver met him; Driver with a spark of unwonted animation in his dull eyes, and who closed the sitting-room door mysteriously behind him as he came forward.