was introduced round the corner of it.

"Will you please come this way," he said.

Telling her maid to stay where she was, Juliet followed him. He opened
the other door on the landing, and announced her in a loud voice as, with
a quickened pulse, she passed him, and entered the room.

There were two men standing by the hearth. One of them came forward to
receive her.

"How do you do, Miss Byrne," he said; "I am glad you were able to come.
I am Jeremy Findlay, at your service."

Mr. Findlay was a man of moderate height, with a long pointed nose which
he was in the habit of putting down to within an inch or two of his desk
when he was looking for any particular paper, for he was very short
sighted. It rather conveyed the impression that he was poking about with
it, and that he hunted for questionable clauses or illegalities in a
document, much as a pig might hunt for truffles in a wood. For the rest,
he was middle-aged, with hair nearly white, and small grey whiskers. He
beamed at Juliet through gold-rimmed eyeglasses.

"Let me introduce my friend," he said, mumbling something.

Juliet did not catch the name, but she supposed that this was Mr. Ince.

The other man stepped forward and shook hands, but said nothing. He was a
thin, pallid creature, rather above the average height, and had the
drooping shoulders of a scholar. His face, which was long and narrow,