ay? Then was the Chris of the old days gone for
ever.

Someone entered the room behind him and he wheeled round.

"Good morning," said Mordaunt.

He offered his hand, but Jack ignored it and his greeting alike.

He stood for a couple of seconds in silence, looking at him, while
Mordaunt waited with absolute composure. Then, "I daresay you are
wondering what I have come for," he said. "Or perhaps you can guess."

"Why should I?" Mordaunt said.

Jack frowned abruptly. He had met this impenetrable mood before. But he
would not be baffled by it. It was no moment for subtleties. He went
straight to the point.

"I have come to tell you that Chris is at Graysdale with Hilda," he said.

Mordaunt's brows went up. He said nothing.

But Jack was insistent. "Did you know that?"

"I did not." Very deliberately came Mordaunt's answer; it held no emotion
of any sort. The subject might have been one of utter indifference to
him.

"Then where did you think she was?"

There was an undernote of ferocity in Jack's question, almost a hint of
menace; but Mordaunt seemed unaware of it.

"Forgive me for saying so, Jack," he said. "But that is more my affair
than yours. I have nothing whatever to discuss with you, nor do I hold
myself answerable to you in any way for my actions."

"But I do," Jack said curtly. "I have always held myself responsible for
Chris's welfare. And I do so still."

Mordaunt listened unmoved. "You can hardly expect me to acknowledge your
authority," he said, "since my responsibility in that respect is greater
than yours."

"I have no desire to dictate to you," Jack answered quickly. "But I do
claim the right to speak my mind on this matter. Remember, it was I who
first brought you into her life."

Mordaunt shrugged his shoulders slightly. "As to that, I am fatalist
enough to believe that we should have met in any case. But isn't that
beside the point? I have declined to discuss the matter with anyone, and
I am not going to make an exception of you."

"You must," Jack said. He threw back his shoulders as if bracing himself
for a physical conflict. He was plainly in earnest.

Mordaunt turned to the table and sat down. "You are wasting your time,"
he said. "Argument is quite useless. I have already decided upon my plan
of action, and quarrelling with you is no part of it."

"What is your plan of action?" Jack demanded.

Mordaunt took out his cigarette-case. "I shall start for Paris in a
couple of