He was there,
waiting, as if directed by Providence, at the foot of the steps which
Mrs. Braddock was to descend. He had eyes for no one until she
appeared in the car door. Then his ugly smile projected itself; his
silk hat came off and he bowed low. One knowing the innermost workings
of Colonel Grand's mind would have understood the profoundness of that
bow. He was giving her time to collect herself; he was, on his own
part, deliberately evading the look of repugnance he knew so well
would leap into her eyes at the first glimpse of him.
She did not see the hand he extended, but with a cool nod of her head,
stepped unaided to the platform. Another man would have felt the
rebuke. Colonel Grand, with the utmost deference in his manner,
quietly relieved her of the traveling bag, his hat still in his hand.
He sent a smile of greeting up to David and the angry-eyed Christine.
"Bring Christine's bag, Jack," he called out. "I have a hack waiting
on the other side of the depot. It is too muddy for walking."
Mary Braddock drew herself up, her eyes flashed and her lips parted to
resent this easy proprietorship.
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