{"product_id":"2940013415423","title":"DANGEROUS DAYS","description":"CHAPTER I\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNatalie Spencer was giving a dinner. She was not an easy hostess. Like\u003cbr\u003emost women of futile lives she lacked a sense of proportion, and\u003cbr\u003ethe small and unimportant details of the service absorbed her. Such\u003cbr\u003econversation as she threw at random, to right and left, was trivial and\u003cbr\u003edistracted.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eYet the dinner was an unimportant one. It had been given with an eye\u003cbr\u003emore to the menu than to the guest list, which was characteristic of\u003cbr\u003eNatalie's mental processes. It was also characteristic that when the\u003cbr\u003efinal course had been served without mishap, and she gave a sigh of\u003cbr\u003erelief before the gesture of withdrawal which was a signal to the other\u003cbr\u003ewomen, that she had realized no lack in it. The food had been good, the\u003cbr\u003eservice satisfactory. She stood up, slim and beautifully dressed, and\u003cbr\u003egathered up the women with a smile.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe movement found Doctor Haverford, at her left, unprepared and with\u003cbr\u003ehis coffee cup in his hand. He put it down hastily and rose, and the\u003cbr\u003esmall cup overturned in its saucer, sending a smudge of brown into the\u003cbr\u003ecloth.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Dreadfully awkward of me!\" he said. The clergyman's smile of apology\u003cbr\u003ewas boyish, but he was suddenly aware that his hostess was annoyed. He\u003cbr\u003ecaught his wife's amiable eyes on him, too, and they said quite plainly\u003cbr\u003ethat one might spill coffee at home--one quite frequently did, to\u003cbr\u003econfess a good man's weakness--but one did not do it at Natalie\u003cbr\u003eSpencer's table. The rector's smile died into a sheepish grin.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFor the first time since dinner began Natalie Spencer had a clear view\u003cbr\u003eof her husband's face. Not that that had mattered particularly, but the\u003cbr\u003eflowers had been too high. For a small dinner, low flowers, always. She\u003cbr\u003ewould speak to the florist. But, having glanced at Clayton, standing\u003cbr\u003etall and handsome at the head of the table, she looked again. His eyes\u003cbr\u003ewere fixed on her with a curious intentness. He seemed to be surveying\u003cbr\u003eher, from the top of her burnished hair to the very gown she wore.\u003cbr\u003eHis gaze made her vaguely uncomfortable. It was unsmiling, appraising,\u003cbr\u003ealmost--only that was incredible in Clay--almost hostile.","brand":"SAP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47082794713328,"sku":"2940013415423","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013415423_p0.jpg?v=1763580607","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013415423","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}