But Hester must be about thirty now, and too old for most men to find her appealing—of which fact she could not be unaware. Standing in this glittering room with the music in the background and the press and hum of scores of people, the clink of glasses, the faint smells of warmth, champagne, stiff material and sometimes of flowers and perfume, he could not help wondering if it hurt her. And yet only a few months ago he had been so close to asking her to marry him. He had even led into an appropriate conversation. He could remember it now with a sudden wave of disappointment. He was certain she had known what he was going to say, and she had gently, very indirectly, allowed him to understand that she was not ready to give him an answer.

Had that been because she loved Monk?

He did not wish to believe that; in fact, he refused to. It would be like ripping the plaster off a wound to see if it was really as deep as one feared. He knew it would be.

And he would go and listen to Margaret Ballinger play her violin. Damn Mrs. Ballinger for insulting her so!

The conversation was going on around him, something to do with a house they had all seen recently, or a public building of some nature.

"I am afraid I do not care for it," Delphine Lambert said with feeling. "Most unimaginative. I am disappointed they chose such old-fashioned ideas. There was nothing new in it at all."

"Restricted budget, I daresay," her husband offered.

She gave him an odd look. "Mr. Melville could have designed something far better, I am sure. Don't you think so, my dear?" She looked at Zillah.

"He is quite brilliant," Zillah agreed, unable to hide her enthusiasm. "He is so sensitive. He is able to create beauty where one would never have imagined it possible and to draw designs so it can be built. You cannot imagine how exciting it is to see drawings on a page and then to see them come to rife. Oh!" She blushed. "I mean—to reality, of course. But such grace and inventiveness almost seem as if they have a life, an existence of their own." She looked from one to another of them. "Do you know what I mean?"

"Of course we do, my dear," Lambert assured her. "Only natural for you to be proud of him."