'
'Strictly so.'
Rodman had a good deal of business on hand besides that which arose
from his connection with Irish dairies. If Alice imagined him
strolling at his ease about the fashionable lounges of the town, she
was much mistaken. He worked hard and enjoyed his work, on the sole
condition that he was engaged in overreaching someone. This
flattered his humour.
He could not find leisure to dine till nearly nine o'clock. He had
made up his mind not to return to Wimbledon, but to make use of a
certain _pied-a-terre_ which he had in Pimlico. His day's work
ended in Westminster, he dined at a restaurant with a friend.
Afterwards billiards were proposed. They entered a house which
Rodman did not know, and were passing before the bar to go to the
billiard-room, when a man who stood there taking refreshment called
out, 'Hollo, Rodman!' To announce a man's name in this way is a
decided breach of etiquette in the world to which Rodman belonged.
He looked annoyed, and would have passed on, but his acquaintance,
who had perhaps exceeded the limits of modest refreshment, called
him again and obliged him to approach the bar. As he did so Rodman
happened to glance at the woman who stood ready to fulfil the
expected order. The glance was followed by a short but close
scrutiny, after which he turned his back and endeavoured by a sign
to draw his two acquaintances away.
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