ere parted,
her eyes were pathetically, delightfully eloquent.

"Mr. Tavernake, you must not--you must not refuse me," she pleaded. "If
you only knew the importance of it, you would not hesitate for a moment.
This is no idle curiosity on my part. I have reasons, very serious
reasons indeed, for wishing to discover that poor girl's whereabouts at
once. There is a possible danger of which she must be warned. No one can
do it except myself."

"Are you her friend or her enemy?" Tavernake asked.

"Why do you ask such a question?" she demanded.

"I am only going by her expression when she saw you come into the
chemist's shop," Tavernake persisted doggedly.

"It is a cruel suggestion, that," the woman cried. "I wish to be her
friend, I am her friend. If I could only tell you everything, you would
understand at once what a terrible situation, what a hideous quandary I
am in."

Once more Tavernake paused for a few moments. He was never a quick
thinker and the situation was certainly an embarrassing one for him.

"Madam," he replied at length, "I beg that you will tell me nothing. The
young lady of whom you have spoken permits me to call myself her friend,
and what she has not told me herself I do not wish to learn from others.
I will tell her of this meeting with you, and if it is her desire, I
will bring you her address myself within a few hours. I cannot do more
than that."

Her face was suddenly cold and hard.

"You mean that you will not!" she exclaimed angrily. "You are obstinate.
I do not know how you dare to refuse what I ask."

The car had come to a standstill. He stepped out on to the pavement.

"This is Grantham House, madam," he announced. "Will you descend?"

He heard her draw a quick breath between her teeth and he caught a
gleam in her eyes which made him feel vaguely uneasy. She was very angry
indeed.

"I do not think that it is necessary for me to do so," she said
frigidly. "I do not like the look of the house at all. I do not believe
that it will suit me."

"At least, now that you are here," he protested, "you will, if
you please, go over it. I should like you to see the ballroom. The
decorations are supposed to be quite exceptional."

She hesitated for a moment and then, with a slight shrug of the
shoulders, she yielded. There was a note in his tone not exactly
insistent, and yet dominant, a note which she obeyed although secretly
she wondered at herself for doing so. They passed inside the h