"Helen," he said, going to the bay window farthest from the tea-table,
"come here I want to say something."
They whispered for a moment, and then Mrs. D'Alloi came back to her tea.
"Won't you have a cup, papa?" asked Leonore.
"'Not to-day, dear," said Watts, with an unusual tenderness in his
voice.
Leonore was raising a spoon to her mouth, but suddenly her hand trembled
a little. After a glance at her father and mother, she pushed her
tea-cup into the centre of the table as if she had finished it, though
it had just been poured. Then she turned and began to talk and laugh
with the caller.
But the moment the visitor was out of the room, Leonore said:
"What is it, papa?"
Watts was standing by the fire. He hesitated. Then he groaned. Then he
went to the door. "Ask your mother," he said, and went out of the room.
"Mamma?" said Leonore.
"Don't excite yourself, dear," said her mother. "I'll tell you
to-morrow."
Leonore was on her feet. "No," she said huskily, "tell me now.
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