"It seems to me it has," said Lord Lathkill, in a queer voice.
The Colonel was sitting abjectly on the music stool, as if broken.
"Shall we have another? Shall we try a tango?" said Lord Lathkill. "As much of it as we can manage?"
"I—I——" the Colonel began, turning round on the seat, his face yellow. "I'm not sure——"
Carlotta shivered. The frost seemed to touch my vitals. Mrs. Hale stood stiff, like a pillar of brown rock-salt, staring at her husband.
"We had better leave off," murmured Lady Lathkill, rising.
Then she did an extraordinary thing. She lifted her face, staring to the other side, and said suddenly, in a clear, cruel sort of voice:
"Are you here, Lucy?"
She was speaking across to the spirits. Deep inside me leaped a jump of laughter. I wanted to howl with laughter. Then instantly, I went inert again. The chill gloom seemed to deepen suddenly in the room, everybody was overcome. On the piano-seat the Colonel sat yellow and huddled, with a terrible hang-dog look of guilt on his face. There was a silence, in which the cold seemed to creak. Then came again the peculiar bell-like ringing of Lady Lathkill's voice:
"Are you here? What do you wish us to do?"