of her with a partly resolute, partly scared expression. The car
went up Park Avenue and then turned westward.

When it stopped the girl said: "You will give me a few moments in my
library with you, won't you?"

The visage he turned to her was one of physical anguish. They sat
confronting each other in silence for an instant; then he rose with
a visible effort and descended, and she followed.

"Be at the garage at two, Wayland," she said, and ascended the snowy
stoop beside McKay.

The butler admitted them. "Luncheon for two," she said, and mounted
the stairs without pausing.

McKay remained in the hall until he had been separated from hat and
coat; then he slowly ascended the stairway. She was waiting on the
landing and she took him directly into the library where a wood fire
was burning.

"Just a moment," she said, "to make myself as--as persuasive as I
can."

"You are perfectly equipped, Miss Erith--"

"Oh, no, I must do better than I have done. This is the great moment
of our careers, Mr. McKay." Her smile, brightly forced, left his
grim features unresponsive. The undertone in her voice warned him of
her determination to have her way.