Saltash. "I passed him at the office,
making enquiries. He had his back to me, but there is no mistaking that
bull-neck of his. Ah!" He turned his head sharply. "I hear a step
outside! Sit down, _mignonne_! Sit down and be dignified!"

But Toby's idea of dignity was to sit on the corner of the table and
swing one leg. If any apprehension lingered in her mind, she concealed it
most successfully. She looked like an alert and mischievous boy.

There came a knock at the door, and for a moment her eyes sought Saltash.
He grinned back derisively, and pulled out his cigarette-case.
"_Entrez!_" he called.

The door opened with a flourish. A waiter entered with a card.

Saltash barely looked at him. His eyes flashed beyond to the open
doorway. "You can come in," he remarked affably. "We've been expecting
you for some time."

Jake entered. His square frame seemed to fill the space between the
door-posts. He was empty-handed, but there was purpose--grim purpose--in
every line of him.

Saltash dismissed the waiter with a jerk of the eyebrows. He was utterly
unabashed, amazingly self-assured. He met Jake's stern eyes with cheery
effrontery.

"Quite like old times!" he commented. "The only difference being, my good
Jake, that on this occasion I have reached the winning-post first."

Jake's look went beyond him to the slight figure by the table. Toby was
on her feet. Her face was flushed, but her eyes were wide and defiant. He
regarded her steadily for several seconds before, very deliberately, he
transferred his attention to Saltash, who nonchalantly awaited his turn,
tapping the cigarette on the lid of his case with supreme indifference.

Jake spoke, his voice soft as a woman's, yet strangely dominating. "I
should like two minutes alone with you--if you can spare them."

Saltash was smiling. His glance shot towards Toby, and came back to Jake
with a certain royal arrogance that held its own without effort. "In
other words, you wish--Lady Saltash--to leave us?" he questioned easily.

"I'm not going," said Toby quickly, with nervous decision.

Her hands were tightly clasped in front of her. She stood as one strung
to the utmost limit of resistance.

Jake did not again look at her. His eyes were upon Saltash, and they
never wavered. "Alone with you," he repeated, with grim insistence.

Saltash regarded him curiously. His mouth twitched mockingly as he put
the cigarette between his lips. He held out the case to Jake in m