The Ghost by Arnold Bennet Chapter 19 Page 2

Gradually, however, her presence soothed me, slackened the tension of my system, and I was able to find a faint pleasure in the beauty of the September afternoon, and of the girl by my side, in the smooth movement of the carriage, and the general gaiety and color of the broad tree-lined Champs Elys�es.

“Why do you ask me to drive with you?” I asked her at length, abruptly yet suavely. Amid the noise of the traffic we could converse with the utmost privacy.

“Because I have something to say to you,” she answered, looking straight in front of her.

“Before you say it, one question occurs to me. You are dressed in black; you are in mourning for Sir Cyril, your father, who is not even buried. And yet you told me just now that you