The library was softly illuminated, for it was already quite dark outside, and only the tall cases of books and the more distant portraits were in deepest shadow—rather like the velvet shadows which lurked outside the open windows. He produced his cigarette-case and offered it to Mallory, but when she declined he carefully and rather slowly lighted himself a cigarette, and then surveyed her thoughtfully through the faint haze of fragrant cigarette-smoke. “Tell me something about yourself, Miss Gower,” he said suddenly, surprising her—so that she was conscious all at once of a feeling of relief. “Something about your background, your family... I know practically nothing at all about you, save that your father dealt very adequately with wild cats, and your grandfather shot tigers!”Mallory crimsoned on the instant, recalling that rattier childish boast she had once made to him of her family’s ability to handle the most dangerous animals, but she could see that his eyes were twinkling a little, and it was surprising, she thought, that he remembered her boast.
