"Why--as if you thought some one else might have spoken..."

"Some one else? Who else?" She rose to her feet. "What on
earth, my dear boy, can you be driving at?"

"I'm trying to find out whether you think he knows anything
definite."

"Why should I think so? Do YOU?"

"I don't know. I want to find out."

She laughed at his obstinate insistence. "To test my
veracity, I suppose?" At the sound of a step in the gallery
she added: "Here he is--you can ask him yourself."

She met Darrow's knock with an invitation to enter, and he
came into the room and paused between herself and Owen. She
was struck, as he stood there, by the contrast between his
happy careless good-looks and her step-son's frowning
agitation.

Darrow met her eyes with a smile. "Am I too soon? Or is our
walk given up?"

"No; I was just going to get ready." She continued to linger
between the two, looking slowly from one to the other. "But
there's something we want to tell you first: Owen is engaged
to Miss Viner."