flattered.

"He is really safe at your house?"

"I hope so, I did my best," he returned grimly.

She looked at him gravely. "You have been very kind to a stranger," she
said.

And at this point Geoffrey made the fatal mistake of his dealing with
her. It did not occur to him that he was going to shield McVay, but he
thought a more advantageous time could be found for telling her the
truth, in case of course she did not know it already. He felt that he
himself would be better able to deal a cold blow when she was warm and
sheltered. No man, he said to himself, could be disagreeable to a girl
who had no one to depend on but himself. So he said:

"He was not exactly a stranger to me. We were at school together."

"Oh, another of Billy's friends. I never knew such a person for
discovering friends at the most opportune times. He never wants anything
but what a friend turns up. Did you find him wandering about, or did he
come and demand admittance?"

"Why, neither exactly. I was not in the house at the time. He felt he
knew me well enough to walk in."

"He never told me he had a friend in the neighbourhood."

"We have not met since we were at school."