aper which you have just concealed."

He laid his hand on the lid of the desk, but she caught it and held it
open.

"I insist upon seeing it," she said firmly.

He turned and faced her. There was a most unpleasant light in his eyes.

"And I say that you shall not," he declared.

There was a brief, intense silence. Each seemed to be measuring the
other's strength. Of the two, Catherine was the more composed. Fenn's
face was still white and strained. His lips were twitching, his manner
nervous and jerky. He made a desperate effort to reestablish ordinary
relations.

"Look here, Miss Abbeway," he said, "we don't need to quarrel about
this. That paper I came across has a special interest for me personally.
I want to think about it before I say anything to a soul in the world."

"You can consult with me," she persisted. "Our aims are the same. We are
here for the same purpose."

"Not altogether," he objected. "I brought you here as my assistant."

"Did you?"

"Well, have the truth, then!" he exclaimed. "I brought you here to be
alone with you, because I hoped that I might find you a little kinder."

"I am afraid you have been disappointed, haven't you?" she asked
sweetly.

"I have," he answered, with unpleasant meaning in his tone, "but we are
not out of here yet."

"You cannot frighten me," she assured him. "Of course, you are a man--of
a sort--and I am a woman, but I do not fancy that you would find, if it
came to force, that you would have much of an advantage. However, we
are wandering from the point. I claim an equal right with you to see
anything which you may discover in Mr. Orden's papers. I might, indeed,
if I chose, claim a prior right."

"Indeed?" he answered, with an ugly scowl on his face. "Mr. Julian Orden
is by way of being a particular friend, eh?"

"As a matter of fact," Catherine told him, "we are engaged to be
married. It isn't a serious engagement. It was entered into by him in
a most chivalrous manner, to save me from the consequences of a very
clumsy attempt on my part to get back that packet. But there it is.
Every one down at his home believes at the present moment that we are
engaged and that I have come up to London to see our Ambassador."

"If you are engaged," Fenn sneered, "why hasn't he told you more of his
secrets?"

"Secrets!" she repeated, a little scornfully. "I shouldn't think he has
any. I should imagine his daily life could be investigated without the
least fear."