esperate characters could occupy a house like
this, she told herself, and in any case a helpless little man in a chair
could not prove a formidable antagonist.

"I hope I have not made any mistake," she said. "If this is 100, Audley
Place----"

"This is 100, Audley Place, Mrs. Richford," the little man said. "Will
you be so good as to come this way and shut the door? I have been
expecting you."

"It was a letter that I received from my friend, Colonel Berrington,"
Beatrice said. "He asked me to call and see him here. I hope he is not
ill."

"I have not noticed any signs of illness," Sartoris said drily. "I have
no doubt that the Colonel had very good reasons for asking you to come
here, in fact he did so to oblige me. The Colonel is out at present. He
is staying with me, being fond of the air of the place. I dare say he
will be back before you go."

Beatrice nodded in bewildered fashion. In some vague way it seemed to
her that her host was making fun of her, there was just a faint
suggestion of mockery in his tones. Was there any plot against her on
foot, Beatrice wondered. But nobody could possibly know of the diamonds
in her pocket; besides, she had received the letter before she had
thought of removing those diamonds from the custody of the hotel people.
Again, as to the genuineness of Berrington's letter she did not
entertain the shadow of a doubt. Nobody, not even an expert, could
succeed in making a successful forgery of the dashing hand-writing of
Berrington.

"If you will come this way," Sartoris said quietly, "we shall be more
comfortable. As the evening is by no means warm you will perhaps not
object to the temperature of my room. If you are fond of flowers, you
may admire it."

A little cry of admiration broke from Beatrice at the sight of the
conservatory room. She had forgotten all her fears for the moment.
Gradually she let the atmosphere of the place steal over her. She found
that she was replying to a lot of searching questions as to her past and
the past of her father, Sir Charles. No, she had no papers, nor did she
know where to find those keys. She wondered what this man was driving
at.

"I knew your father very well at one time," he said. "I saw a great deal
of him in India. In fact he and I were in more than one expedition
together."

"What year was that?" Beatrice asked quite innocently.

To her surprise Sartoris gave signs of irritation and anger. He turned
it off a moment later by