antly warmed and perfumed little
drawing-room. She even held out her hand cordially to the dark, grim
figure whose outline against the dainty white wall seemed so
inappropriate.

"This is very nice of you indeed, Mr. Strangewey," she began. "I had no
idea that you had followed your brother's example and come to town."

She told herself once more that her slight instinct of uneasiness had
been absurd. Stephen's bow, although a little formal and austere, was
still an acknowledgment of her welcome. The shadows of the room,
perhaps, had prevented him from seeing her outstretched hand.

"Mine is a very short visit, Miss Maurel," he said. "I had no other
reason for coming but to see John and to pay this call upon you."

"I am greatly flattered," she told him. "You must please sit down and
make yourself comfortable while we talk. See, this is my favorite
place," she added, dropping into a corner of her lounge. "Will you sit
beside me? Or, if you prefer, draw up that chair."

"My preference," he replied, "is to remain standing."

She raised her eyebrows. Her tone altered.

"It must be as you wish, of course," she continued; "only I have such
pleasant recollections of your hospitality at Peak Hall that I should
like, if there was any possible way in which I could return it--"

"Madam," he interrupted, "you must admit that the hospitality of Peak
Hall was not willingly offered to you. Save for the force of
circumstances, you would never have crossed our threshold."

She shrugged her shoulders. She was adapting her tone and manner to the
belligerency of his attitude.

"Well?"

"You want to know why I have found my way to London?" he went on. "I
came to find out a little more about you."

"About me?"

"To discover if there was anything about you," he proceeded
deliberately, "concerning which report had lied. I do not place my faith
in newspapers and gossip. There was always a chance that you might have
been an honest woman. That is why I came to London, and why I went to
see your play last night."

She was speechless. It was as if he were speaking to her in some foreign
tongue.

"I have struggled," he continued, "to adopt a charitable view of your
profession. I know that the world changes quickly, while we, who prefer
to remain outside its orbit, of necessity lose touch with its new ideas
and new fashions. So I said to myself that there should be no mistake.
For that reason I sat in a theater last night almost fo