ir, the reversal of her preconceived ideas was so
complete that for an instant she thought it must be some one else. The
suggestion of a smile crossed his serious face as he met her
disconcerted look and, halting beside her desk, he repeated his name.

"I have come to see you, Miss Marne, to relieve your mind of any
apprehension you may feel concerning Mr. Felix Brand."

"Oh," she exclaimed, the reassurance his words gave her evident at
once in her voice. "Then you have seen him? You know that he is quite
well?"

His keen, dark eyes swept the room with an alert glance. On her desk
glowed a vase of sunshine-colored daffodils. She remembered afterward
that, while his one swift glance had seemed to take in everything in
the room, it had passed over the flowers as coolly as it had over the
chairs and the typewriter, and she compared it with the way Felix
Brand's eyes would have lingered and feasted upon them.

"I have not seen him for several days," he replied, his gaze again
straight into her eyes. He spoke rapidly, in a direct, almost blunt
manner. "But I can assure you that you need to feel no anxiety about
him. He is quite safe and will be back here as soon as circumstances
permit."

Henrietta hesitated for an instant, in quick debate with herself as to
the most prudent course to pursue. Should she try to find out all that
this man knew, or, refusing to admit how much she was in the dark
herself, thank him for his kindness in such a way as to make him
believe she did not need his information? She was aware that already
she was not so suspicious of him as she had been a few moments before.
The friendly sincerity of his look and the blunt frankness of his
manner compelled her into a less wary, less hostile feeling. Reminding
herself again that she must be on her guard she motioned him to a
chair beside her desk.

"You must know, Mr. Gordon," she said, looking at him with a gaze as
direct as his own, "that your attitude toward Mr. Brand some weeks ago
was not such as to make me feel, now, much confidence in your good
intentions. Frankly, I find it difficult to believe that you have come
here with his good in view."

Gordon's serious countenance relaxed a little and Henrietta felt
herself impelled to a responsive smile, which she quickly checked.

"No," he agreed, "I can't expect you, not knowing all the
circumstances, to understand that what I did then was intended for
Felix Brand's good. I believed, or at least