voice a little and laying his hand upon her arm,
"if you could make up your mind--"

She snatched her arm away, and this time even he could not mistake the
anger which blazed in her eyes.

"Mr. Fenn," she exclaimed, "why is it so difficult to make you
understand? I detest such liberties as you are permitting yourself. And
for the rest, my affections are already engaged."

"Sounds a bit old-fashioned, that," he remarked, scowling a little. "Of
course, I don't expect--"

"Never mind what you expect," she interrupted, "Please go on with this
search, if you are going to make one at all. The vulgarity of the whole
thing annoys me, and I do not for a moment suppose that the packet is
here."

"It wasn't on Orden," he reminded her sullenly.

"Then he must have sent it somewhere for safe keeping," she replied. "I
had already given him cause to do so."

"If he has, then amongst his correspondence there may be some indication
as to where he sent it," Fenn pointed out, with unabated ill-temper. "If
you don't like the job, and you won't be friendly, you'd better take the
easy-chair and wait till I'm through."

She sat down, watching him with angry eyes, uncomfortable, unhappy,
humiliated. She seemed to have dropped in a few hours from the realms of
rarefied and splendid thought to a world of petty deeds. Not one of
her companion's actions was lost upon her. She watched him study with
ill-concealed reverence a ducal invitation, saw him read through without
hesitation a letter which she felt sure was from Julian's mother. And
then:

The change in the man was so startling, his muttered exclamation--so
natural that its profanity never even grated. His eyes seemed to be
starting out of his head, his lips were drawn back from his teeth.
Blank, unutterable surprise held him, dumb and spellbound, as he stared
at a half-sheet of type written notepaper. She herself, amazed at his
transformed appearance, found words for the moment impossible. Then
a queer change came into his expression. His eyebrows drew closer
together, his lips turned malevolently. He pushed the paper underneath
a pile of others and turned his head towards her. Their eyes met. There
was something like fear in his.

"What is it that you have found?" she cried breathlessly.

"Nothing," he answered, "nothing of any importance."

She rose slowly to her feet and came towards him.

"I am your partner in this hateful enterprise," she reminded him. "Show
me that p