She
looked up at him casually as they crossed the street, and something
in his face surprised her.
"Why, Cecil, what on earth is the matter with you?" she exclaimed.
He looked down at her with a new seriousness.
"I was thinking," he said, "how oddly things turn out. So you have
been down to interview Mr. Scarlett Trent for a newspaper, and he
was civil to you!"
"Well, I don't see anything odd about that," she exclaimed
impatiently. "Don't be so enigmatical. If you've anything to say,
say it! Don't look at me like an owl!"
"I have a good deal to say to you," he answered gravely. "How long
shall you be at the office?"
"About an hour - perhaps longer."
"I will wait for you!"
"I'd rather you didn't. I don't want them to think that I go
trailing about with an escort."
"Then may I come down to your flat? I have something really
important to say to you, Ernestine. It does not concern myself at
all. It is wholly about you. It is something which you ought to
know."
"You are trading upon my curiosity for the sake of a tea," she
laughed. "Very well, about five o'clock."
He bowed and walked back westwards with a graver look than usual
upon his boyish face, for he had a task before him which was very
little to his liking.
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