fractions of seconds of time); and he wasn't actually in the room; but
Viola and I were aware of him outside. If he had not paused on the
landing to dispose of his overcoat and his hat and his stick, their
entrance would have been simultaneous.

That pause saved them.

His stick slipped and tumbled down on the landing with a clatter. We
heard him prop it up again. Our eyes met. I'm afraid mine said: "What are
you going to do _now_?"

Then he came in and I saw the gallant Reggie take the shock of him. I
don't suppose he had ever before met anything like Jevons--I mean really
met him, at close quarters--in his life. But he was gallant, and he had
his face well under control. Only the remotest, vanishing quiver and
twinkle betrayed the extremity of his astonishment.

Viola, with an admirable air of detachment from Jevons, introduced them.
I don't know how she did it. It was as if, without any actual
repudiation, she declined to hold herself responsible for Jevons'
appearance; for the extraordinary little bow he made; for his jerky
aplomb and for his "Glad to meet you, Captain." And for the rest, she
just handed him over to her brother and trusted Reggie to be decent to
him.

I had wondered: Are they going to let on that they've been out together?
She cannot--she cannot own up to that. But how are they going to get out
of it, and will he betray her?

I saw how they were going to get out of it. If they didn't say in as many