He filled it with wine and placed the stem in
her hand. Even then she spilled some of it upon the tablecloth.
As she raised it to her lips, the man who stood still upon the
threshold of the restaurant looked into her face. Slowly, as
though his quest were over, he came down the room.
"Go away," she said to Tavernake. "Go away, please. He is
coming to speak to me. I want to be alone with him."
Strangely enough, at that moment Tavernake saw nothing out of the
common in her request. He rose at once, without any formal
leave-taking, and made his way toward the other end of the caf‚.
As he turned the corner towards the smoking-room, he glanced once
behind. The man had approached quite close to Elizabeth; he was
standing before her table, they seemed to be exchanging
greetings.
Tavernake went on into the smoking-room and threw himself into an
easy-chair. He had been there perhaps for ten minutes when
Pritchard entered. Certainly it was a night of surprises! Even
Pritchard, cool, deliberate, slow in his movements and speech,
seemed temporarily flurried. He came into the room walking
quickly. As the door swung back, he turned round as though to
assure himself that he was not being followed. He did not at
first see Tavernake. He sat on the arm of an easy-chair, his
hands in his pockets, his eternal cigar in the corner of his
mouth, his eyes fixed upon the doors through which he had issued.
Without a doubt, something had disturbed him.
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