She met his eyes across the group with the direct steadiness she typically used for matters she intended to address, indicating that she was choosing the moment to speak.
Then she said to the group at large, with the naturalness of a genuine question, "Where's Alexander? He's usually within arm's reach of Elizabeth."
The group handled this situation with varying degrees of competence, reflecting their different levels of knowledge about the subject.
Elizabeth said, "He's dealing with some administrative follow-up from the expedition."
Diana said nothing, which was its own kind of answer.
Lily looked at Rex with the expression she used when she had a question she was filing for later.
Elliot replied, "Right, right," in the manner people often do when they accept an explanation without further scrutiny. This was typical for him in situations concerning Elizabeth's professional life.
