There Dion’s thought was held up, like a stream that encounters a barrier. What did Bruce Evelin think of Mrs. Clarke? He had not gone to the trial. But since he had retired from practise at the Bar he had never gone into court. Dion had often heard him say he had had enough of the Law Courts. There was no reason why he should have been drawn to them for Mrs. Clarke’s sake, or even for Daventry’s. But what did he think of Mrs. Clarke? Dion resolved to tell him of the rather awkward situation which had come about through his own intimacy--it really amounted to that--with Mrs. Clarke, and Rosamund’s evident resolve to have nothing to do with her.
One day Dion went to Great Cumberland Place and told Bruce Evelin all the facts, exactly what Mrs. Clarke had said and done, exactly what Rosamund had said and done. As he spoke it seemed to him that he was describing a sort of contest, shadowy, perhaps, withdrawn and full of reserves, yet definite.
“What do you think of it?” he said, when he had told the comparatively little there was to tell.
“I think Rosamund likes to keep her home very quiet, don’t you?”
“Even her friends complain that she shuts them out.”
“She may not at all dislike Mrs. Clarke. She may simply not wish to add to her circle of friends.”
“The difficulty is, that Mrs. Clarke is such friends with Beattie and Guy, and that I’ve got to know her quite well. Then there’s her boy; he’s taken a fancy to me. If Mrs. Clarke and Rosamund could just exchange calls it would be all right, but if they don’t it really looks rather as if Rosamund--well, as if she thought the divorce case had left a slur on Mrs. Clarke. What I mean is, that I feel Mrs. Clarke will take it in that way.”
“I wonder why she is so determined to make friends with Rosamund,” blurted out Dion abruptly.
“You think she is determined?” said Bruce Evelin quietly.
“Yes. Telling you had made me feel that quite plainly.”
“Anyhow, she’ll be gone back to Constantinople in April, and then your little difficulty will come to an end automatically.”
Dion looked rather hard at Bruce Evelin. When he spoke to Rosamund of Mrs. Clarke, Rosamund always seemed to try for a gentle evasion. Now Bruce Evelin was surely evading the question, and again Mrs. Clarke was the subject of conversation. Bruce Evelin was beginning to age rather definitely. He had begun to look older since Beattie was married. But his dark eyes were still very bright and keen, and one could not be with him for even a few minutes without realizing that his intellect was sharply alert.