of the apartment as a man's quick short footsteps
crossed the hall in two strides, and after a second's pause, a key
clicked into the lock.

XXXVIII

Mrs. Severance, her whole weight against the door, felt it push at her
fiercely without opening, and, even in the midst of her turmoil, smiled.
Mr. Severance had never been exactly what one would call an athlete--

She slackened her pressure, little by anxious little. Her hand crept
down to the knob, then she jerked it sharply and stood back and Mr.
Piper came stumbling into the room, a little too fast for dignity. He
had to catch to her to save himself from falling but as soon as he had
recovered his balance he jerked his hands away from her as if they had
taken hold of something that hurt him and when he stood up she saw
that his face was grey all over and that his breath came in little hard
sniffs through his nose.

"Sorry, Sargent," she said easily. "I heard your key but that silly old
door is sticking again. You didn't hurt yourself, did you?"

For an instant she thought that everything was going to be perfectly
simple--his face had changed so, with an intensity of relief almost
childish, at the sound of her accustomed voice. Then the greyness came
back.

"Do you mind--introducing me--Rose--to the gentleman--you are dining
with tonight?" he said with a difficulty of speech as if actual words
were not things he was accustomed to using. "I merely--called--to be
quite sure."

She managed to look as puzzled as possible.

"The gentleman?"

"Oh yes, the gentleman." He seemed neither to be particularly disgusted
nor murderously angry--only so utterly tired in body and spirit that she
thought oddly that it seemed almost as if any sudden gesture or movement
might crumble him into pieces of fine grey paper at her feet.

"Oh, there isn't any use in pretending, Rose--any more. I have my
information."

"Yes? From whom?"

"What on earth does it matter? Elizabeth--since you choose to know."

"Elizabeth," said Mrs. Severance softly. She could not imagine how time,
even when successfully played for and gained, could help the situation
very much--but that was the only thing she could think of doing, and she
did it, therefore, with every trick of deliberation she knew, as if any
instant saved before he went into the dining-room might bring salvation.

"Do you know, I was always a little doubtful about Elizabeth. She was a
little too beautifully incurious about ev