"What you want?" she growled. "Mrs. Balfame she have seen all the reporters already yet." "Let the gentleman in," called Mrs. Balfame from the parlour. "This is a friend of my late husband." Rush was permitted to enter. He was a full minute disposing of his hat and overcoat in the hall, while Frieda dragged her heelless slippers back to the kitchen and slammed the door. His own step was not brisk as he left the hall for the parlour, and his face, always colourless, looked thin and haggard. Mrs. Balfame, as she rose and gave him her hand, asked solicitously: "Are you under the weather? How seedy you look. I wondered why you had not called--" "A touch of the grippe. Felt all in for a day or two, but am all right now. And although I have been very anxious to see you, I had made up my mind not to call unless you sent for me." "Well, I sent for you professionally," she retorted coolly. "You don't suppose I took your love making seriously." He flushed dully, after the manner of men with thick fair skins, and his hard blue eyes lost their fire as he stared at her. It was incomprehensible that she could misunderstand him. "It was serious enough to me. I merely stayed away, because, having spoken as I did, I--well, I cannot very well explain. You will remember that I made you promise to send for me if you were in trouble--" "I remembered!" She felt his rebuke obscurely. "It never occurred to me to send for any one else." "Thank you for that." "Did you mean anything but politeness when you said that you had been anxious to see me?" He hesitated, but he had already made up his mind that the time had come to put her on her guard. Besides, he inferred that she had begun herself to appreciate her danger. "You have read the newspapers. You saw the reporters this afternoon. Of course you must have guessed that they hope for a sensational trial with you as the heroine." "How can men--_men_--be such heartless brutes?" "Ask the public. Even that element that believes itself to be select and would not touch a yellow paper devours a really interesting crime in high life. Never mind that now. Let us get down to brass tacks. They want to fix the crime on you. How are they going to manage it? That is the question for us. Tell me exactly what they said, what they made you say." Mrs. Balfame gave him so circumstantial an account of the interview that he looked at her in admiration, although his rigid American face, that looked so strong, turned paler still. "What a splendid witness you would make!" He stared at the carpet for a moment, then flashed his eyes upward much as Broderick had done. "Tell me," he said softly, "is there anything you withheld from them? You know how safe you are with me. But I must be in a position to advise you what to say and to leave unsaid--if the worst comes." "You mean if I am arrested?" She had a moment of complete naturalness, and stared at him wildly. He leaned forward and patted her hand.