pened the door,
and tottered out into the hallway. There was no sound in the flat.
Presumably Kilfane's man had retired, or perhaps he, too, was a devotee.
Rita's fur coat hung upon the rack, and although her fingers appeared to
have lost all their strength and her arm to have become weak as that
of an infant, she succeeded in detaching the coat from the hook. Not
pausing to put it on, she opened the door and stumbled out on to the
darkened landing. Whereas her first impulse had been to awaken someone,
preferably Sir Lucien, now her sole desire was to escape undetected.
She began to feel less dizzy, and having paused for a moment on the
landing, she succeeded in getting her coat on. Then she closed the door
as quietly as possible, and clutching the handrail began to grope her
way downstairs. There was only one flight, she remembered, and a short
passage leading to the street door. She reached the passage without
mishap, and saw a faint light ahead.
The fastenings gave her some trouble, but finally her efforts were
successful, and she found herself standing in deserted Duke Street.
There was no moon, but the sky was cloudless. She had no idea of the
time, but because of the stillness of the surrounding streets she knew
that it must be very late. She set out for her flat, walking slowly and
wondering what explanation she should offer if a constable observed her.
Oxford Street showed deserted as far as the eye could reach, and her
light footsteps seemed to awaken a hundred echoes. Having proceeded for
some distance without meeting anyone, she observed--and experienced a
childish alarm--the head-lights of an approaching car. Instantly the
idea of hiding presented itself to her, but so rapidly did the big
automobile speed along the empty thoroughfare that Rita was just passing
a street lamp as the car raced by, and she must therefore have been
clearly visible to the occupants.
Never for a moment glancing aside, Rita pressed on as quickly as she
could. Then her vague alarm became actual terror. She heard the brakes
being applied to the car, and heard the gritty sound of the tires upon
the roadway as the vehicle's headlong progress was suddenly checked. She
had been seen--perhaps recognized, and whoever was in the car proposed
to return to speak to her.
If her strength had allowed she would have run, but now it threatened to
desert her altogether and she tottered weakly. A pattering of footsteps
came from behind. S
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