Reardon turned in the direction whence he had come, and began to walk slowly; Jasper kept beside him.
'I'm afraid there's something amiss between us, Reardon,' said the latter, just glancing at his companion.
'There's something amiss between me and everyone,' was the reply, in an unnatural voice.
'You look at things too gloomily. Am I detaining you, by-the-bye? You were going--'
'Then come to my rooms, and let us see if we can't talk more in the old way.'
'Your old way of talk isn't much to my taste, Milvain. It has cost me too much.'Jasper gazed at him. Was there some foundation for Mrs Yule's seeming extravagance? This reply sounded so meaningless, and so unlike Reardon's manner of speech, that the younger man experienced a sudden alarm.
'Cost you too much? I don't understand you.'
They had turned into a broader thoroughfare, which, however, was little frequented at this hour. Reardon, his hands thrust into the pockets of a shabby overcoat and his head bent forward, went on at a slow pace, observant of nothing. For a moment or two he delayed reply, then said in an unsteady voice:
