Don't watch me, please; I'm nervous."
Molly uttered a curious little laugh that was not wholly steady.
"How did you come here?" she said.
He did not answer her till he had safely accomplished what he had
undertaken. Then he set down the saucepan and looked at her.
"I am staying with Lady Caryl," he told her gravely. "I arrived this
afternoon. And I have come here to present a humble offering to your
sister, and to make a suggestion equally humble to you. I arrived here in
this room by means of a process called bribery and corruption. But if you
are too busy to listen to me, I will wait."
"I can listen," Molly said.
He had not even shaken hands with her, and she felt strangely uncertain
of herself. She was even conscious of a childish desire to run away.
He took her at her word at once. "Thank you," he said. "Now, do you
remember a certain conversation that took place between us six months
ago?"
"I remember," she said.
An odd sense of powerlessness had taken possession of her, and she knew
it had become visible to him, for she saw his face alter.
"I know I'm ugly," he said, abruptly; "but I'm not frowning, believe me."
She understood the allusion and laughed rather faintly. "I'm not afraid
of you, Lord Wyverton," she said.
He smiled at her. "Thank you," he said. "That's kind. I'm coming to the
point. There are just two questions I have to ask you, and I've done.
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