She looked tired, and her boots and skirt
were splashed as though with much walking.
"Indeed! I suppose you see a good deal of him just now while the
election is on?"
"I must make myself a perfect nuisance to him," Brooks admitted. "You
see the work is all new to me, and he has been through it many times
before. Are you just going home?"
She nodded.
"I have been out since two o'clock," she said.
"And you are almost wet through, and quite tired out," he said. "Look
here. Come across to Mellor's and have some tea with me, and I will put
you in a car afterwards."
She hesitated--and he led the way across the Street, giving her no
opportunity to frame a refusal. The little tea-place was warm and cosy.
He found a comfortable corner, and took her wet umbrella and cape away.
"I believe," he said, sitting down opposite her, "that I have saved your
life."
"Then I am not sure," she answered, "that I feel grateful to you. I
ought to have warned you that I am not in the least likely to be a
cheerful companion. I have had a most depressing afternoon."
"You have been to your tailor's," he suggested, "and your new gown is a
failure--or is it even worse than that?"
She laughed dubiously.
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