"Would you care to have a word with Miss Evelyn, sir?"

"O, yes, yes."

Theydon blurted out this emphatic acceptance of the butler's
suggestion without a thought as to its possible consequences. He was
racking his brain in a frenzy of uncertainty as to how he should frame
his words when he heard quite clearly a woman's footsteps on the
parquet flooring, and caught Evelyn Forbes's voice saying to
Tomlinson: "How fortunate! Mr. Theydon is the very person I wished to
speak to, but I simply dared not ring him up."

The slight incident only provided Theydon with a new source of
wonderment. Why should Evelyn Forbes want speech with him at that
early hour? Perhaps she would explain. He could only hope so, and
trust to luck in the choice of his own phrases.

"That you, Mr. Theydon?" came the girl's voice, sweet in its cadence
yet ominously eager. "How nice of you to anticipate my unspoken
thought! I have been horribly anxious ever since I read of that awful
affair at Innesmore Mansions. That poor lady's flat is next door to
yours, is it not?"

"Yes, but--"

"O, you cannot choke off a woman's curiosity quite so easily. You see,
I happen to know that Mrs. Lester's sad death affects my father in
some way, and I realize now that you two were just on pins and needles
to get rid of me last night so that you might talk freely."