saying: 'Nonsense! Roke will have let him out before now.
And there are worse places to spend a hot afternoon in than
locked snugly in a cool storeroom.'"

"Are there?" interpolated Brice. "I'd hate to test that."

"All in a flash. I understood," she continued, her sweet
voice struggling gallantly against tears. "I knew Rodney
didn't want us to have any guests or to have any outsiders at
all at our house. He was fearfully displeased with us last
night for having you there. It was all we could do to
persuade him that the man who had saved Milo's life couldn't
be turned out of doors or left to look elsewhere for work. It
was only when Milo promised to give you work at the key that
he stopped arguing and being so imperative about it. And when
I heard him speak just now about your being locked in a store
room there. I knew he had done it to prevent your coming back
here for a while."

"Your reasoning was most unfeminine in its correctness,"
approved Gavin, still forcing himself to resist the piteous
pleading in her voice.

He could see her flinch under the harshness of his tone as she
added:

"And all at once I realized what it must mean to you and what
you must think of us--after all you'd done for Milo. And I
knew how a beast like Roke would be likely to treat you when
he knew my brother and Rodney had left you there at the mercy