"
"And Mariana?" Provost inquired.
"Came out day before yesterday, late; leaving this morning."
Howat Penny was conscious of a growing anger. There was no reason for
his submitting to an interrogation by Peter Provost; he didn't have to
justify his actions, the selection of his guests; and he had no
intention of explaining his attitude toward Mariana. But Provost, it
became evident, had no inclination to be intrusive. It was, he made that
clear, wholly Charlotte. But Kingsfrere Jannan was increasingly
impatient. "Where is Polder?" he demanded. Howat surveyed him with
neither favour nor reply. Suddenly he understood the feeling of both
men--they considered that he was too old to have any grip or
comprehension of life. They were quietly but obviously relegating him to
the back of the scene. His anger mounted; he was about to make a sharp
reply, when he paused. There was a possibility that they were right; he
was, undoubtedly, old; and he had been unable to influence, turn,
Mariana, in the slightest degree. He didn't approve of her present,
head-strong course ... only a few hours ago he had voluntarily, gladly,
relinquished all effort to comprehend it.
"Perhaps," Provost suggested, "since we are here we'd better talk to
him.
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