CHAPTER II


LISA LISTENS

Someone turned up the light. "I'll leave you together," said Lord
Mountstuart; and the door was closed.

"What could that mean?" I wondered. I had supposed the two men had come
in alone, but there must have been a third person. Who could it be? Had
Lord Mountstuart been arranging a tête-à-tête between Di and Ivor
Dundas?

The thought was like a hand on my throat, choking my life out. I must
hear what they had to say to each other.

Without stopping to think more, I rolled over and let myself sink down
into the narrow space between the low couch and the wall, sharply
pulling the clinging folds of my chiffon dress after me. Then I lay
still, my blood pounding in my temples and ears, and in my nostrils a
faint, musty smell from the Oriental stuff that covered the lounge.

I could see nothing from where I lay, except the side of the couch, the
wall, and a bit of the ceiling with the gargoyley cornice which Di had
mentioned when she wanted to seem indifferent to the subject of our
conversation. But I was listening with all my might for what was to
come.

"Better lock the door, if you please, Dundas," said a voice, which gave