“I am sorry to bother you, miss,” he said, “but this is important.”
“It is rather a late hour,” she said. “What is it you want?”
He fumbled with his hat and looked at the waiting girl. At a nod from May she left the room.
“This is rather important to you, miss,” said the man again. “Black treated me pretty badly.”
For a moment an unworthy suspicion flashed through her mind. Had Frank sent his man to her to shake her faith in Black? A feeling of resentment arose against her visitor and the man she thought was his employer.
“You may save your breath,” she said coolly, “and you can go back to the gentleman who sent you and tell him—”
“Nobody sent me, miss,” he said eagerly. “I come on my own. I tell you they’ve done me a bad turn. I’ve kept my mouth shut for Black for years, and now he’s turned me down. I’m ill, miss, you can see that for yourself,” he said, throwing out his arms in despair. “I’ve been almost starving and they haven’t given me a bean. I went to Black’s house today and he wouldn’t see me.”
He almost whimpered in his helpless anger.
“He’s done me a bad turn and I’m going to do him one,” he said fiercely. “You know what his game is?”
“I do not want to know,” she said again, the old suspicion obscuring her vision. “You will gain nothing by speaking against Colonel Black.”
“Don’t be foolish, miss,” he pleaded, “don’t think I’ve come for money. I don’t expect money—I don’t want it. I dare say I can get help from Mr. Fellowe.”
“Ah!” she said, “so you know Mr. Fellowe: it was he who sent you. I will not hear another word,” she went on hotly. “I know now where you come from—I’ve heard all this before.”
She walked determinedly across the room and rang the bell. The butler came in.
“Show this man out,” said May.
The man looked at her sorrowfully.
“You’ve had your chance, miss,” he said ominously. “Black’s Essley, that’s all!”
With this parting shot he shuffled through the hall, down the steps into the night.
Left alone, the girl shrank into her chair. She was shaking from head to foot with indignation and bewilderment. It must have been Frank who sent this man. How mean, how inexpressibly mean!
“How dare he? How dare he?” she asked.
It was the policeman in Frank which made him so horrid, she thought. He always believed horrid things of everybody. It was only natural. He had lived his life amongst criminals; he had thought of nothing but breaches of the law. She looked at the dock: it was a quarter to ten. He had wasted her evening, this visitor. She did not know exactly what to do. She could not read; it was too early to go to bed. She would have liked to have gone for a little walk, but there was nobody to take her. It was absurd asking the butler to walk behind her; she smiled at the thought.
Then she started. She had heard the distant ring of the front-door bell. Who could it be?
She had not long to wait in doubt. A few minutes afterwards the girl had announced Colonel Black. He was in evening dress and very cheerful.
“Forgive this visit,” he said, with that heartiness of voice which carried conviction of his sincerity. “I happened to be passing and I thought I’d drop in.”
This was not exactly true. Black had carefully planned this call. He knew her father was out; knew also, so bitter had been a discussion of that afternoon, that he would not have sanctioned the visit.
May gave him her hand, and he grasped it warmly.
She came straight to the point.
“I’m so glad you’ve come,” she said. “I’ve been awfully bothered.”
He nodded sympathetically, though a little at sea.
“And now this man has come?”
“This man—which man?” he asked sharply.
“I forget his name—he came this evening. In fact, he’s only been gone a little time. And he looked awfully ill. You know him, I think?”
“Not Jakobs?” he breathed.
She nodded.
“I think that is the name,” she said.
“Jakobs?” he repeated, and his face went a little white. “What did he say?” he asked quickly.
She repeated the conversation as nearly as she could remember it. When she had finished he rose.
“You’re not going?” she said in astonishment.
“I’m afraid I must,” he said. “I’ve a rather important engagement and—er—I only called in passing. Which way did this man go? Did he give you any idea as to his destination?”
She shook her head.
“No. All that he said was that there were people who would be glad of the information he could give about you.”
“He did, did he?” said Black, with an heroic attempt at a smile. “I never thought Jakobs was that kind of man. Of course, there is nothing that I should mind everybody knowing, but one has business secrets, you know. Miss Sandford. He is a discharged employee of mine who has stolen some contracts. You need not worry about the matter.”
He smiled confidently at her as he left the room.
He drove straight from the house to his city office. The place was in darkness, but he knew his way without the necessity of lighting up. He ran upstairs into the boardroom.
There was a little door in one corner of the room, concealed from view by a hanging curtain.
He closed the shutters and pulled down the blinds before he switched on the light. He pushed the curtain aside and examined the face of the door. There was no sign that it had been forced. Jakobs knew of the existence of this little retiring-room, and had, in his indiscretion, mentioned its existence in one of his letters of demand.
Black drew from his pocket a small bunch of keys attached to a silver chain. The door of the room opened easily. There was a smaller room disclosed—no larger than a big cupboard. A single incandescent
