"Not at all," he assured her. "Merely very candid. I know precisely what you mean. I have observed it, and I daresay if I were to glance around now I should see a score of examples. I was doubtless guilty of it myself… a few years ago."

She wanted to laugh. He could see it in her eyes, but good manners, and the slightness of their acquaintance, forbade it.

"Perhaps I still do…" He said it before she could complete the thought.

"Oh no," she denied. "I'm sure not now. You don't need to, and you must know that."

"The advantage of age." He laughed at himself.

Suddenly the vulnerability was back in her eyes, and he knew she was afraid he had referred to the difference in their ages to distance himself from her, to let her know gently that this was merely a courtesy acquaintance and could be nothing more. That was trae, but because of his feelings for Hester, not anything to do with Margaret Ballinger. Were it not for Hester, he might well have sought to know Margaret a good deal better.

He was chilled by the realization of how easy it was to hurt, without the slightest intention, simply because one was thinking of something else, watching some other imperative.

"Well, perhaps it is more the assurance one gains from some professional success," he amended, then wished he had not. He was only making it worse. "Tell me more about Mr. Melville's architectural designs. Is he really innovative?"

"Yes, quite definitely," she replied without hesitation. "His designs seem to have far more light than most people's. They are full of windows and curves where I have never seen them before. There is a house in Hampshire he built, or should I say Mr. Lambert had built, which is wonderful inside. Every room seems to be full of sunlight, and the windows are quite irregular. It is extraordinarily comfortable to be in. One always seems to be looking outside either at trees or at the sky. I felt so at peace in it. And yet when I asked the housekeeper if it was difficult to care for, she assured me it was actually highly practical. I was most surprised."