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Page 10
"Will you kindly explain who you are and what you mean by this
extraordinary behaviour?" she demanded.
"It is my earnest intention to do so without delay," he assured her,
his eyes apparently rivetted upon Philippa. "Kindly pardon me."
He held out his arm to stop Helen, who, with her eye upon the bell,
had made a stealthy attempt to slip past him. Her eyes flashed as
she felt his fingers upon her arm.
"How dare you attempt to stop me!" she exclaimed.
"My dear Miss Fairclough," he remonstrated, "in the interests of all
of us, it is better that we should have a few moments of undisturbed
conversation. I am taking it for granted that I have the pleasure
of addressing Miss Fairclough?"
There was something about the man's easy confidence which was, in
its way, impressive yet irritating. Helen appeared bereft of words
and retreated to her place almost mildly. Philippa's very delicate
eyebrows were drawn together in a slight frown.
"You are acquainted with our names, then?"
"Perfectly," was the suave reply. "You, I presume, are Lady Cranston?
I may be permitted to add," he went on, looking at her steadfastly,
"that the description from which I recognise you does you less than
justice."
"I find that remark, under the circumstances, impertinent," Philippa
told him coldly.
He shrugged his shoulders. There was a slight smile upon his lips
and his eyes twinkled.
"Alas!" he murmured, "for the moment I forgot the somewhat unusual
circumstances of our meeting. Permit me to offer you what I trust
you will accept as the equivalent of a letter of introduction."
"A letter of introduction," Philippa repeated, glancing at his
disordered clothes, "and you come in through the window!"
"Believe me," the intruder assured her, "it was the only way."
"Perhaps you will tell me, then," Philippa demanded, her anger
gradually giving way to bewilderment, "what is wrong with my front
door?"
"For all I know, dear lady," the newcomer confessed, "yours may be
an excellent front door. I would ask you, however, to consider my
appearance I have been obliged to conclude the last few miles of
my journey in somewhat ignominious fashion. My clothes--they were
quite nice clothes, too, when I started," he added, looking down at
himself ruefully--"have suffered. And, as you perceive, I have
lost my hat."
"Your hat?" Helen exclaimed, with a sudden glance at Nora's trophy.
"Precisely! I might have posed before your butler, perhaps, as
belonging to what you call the hatless brigade, but the mud upon
my clothes, and these unfortunate rents in my garments, would have
necessitated an explanation which I thought better avoided. I make
myself quite clear, I trust?"
"Clear?" Philippa murmured helplessly.
"Clear?" Helen echoed, with a puzzled frown.
"I mean, of course," their visitor explained, "so far as regards my
choosing this somewhat surreptitious form of entrance into your
house."
Philippa shrugged her shoulders and made a determined move towards
the bell. The intruder, however, barred her way. She looked up
into his face and found it difficult to maintain her indignation.
His expression, besides being distinctly pleasant, was full of a
respectful admiration.
"Will you please let me pass?" she insisted.
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