"I am happy," Mr. Blatherwick said, "to be able to believe that the letter was after all a hoax. There was no one in the room, as you would doubtless observe, likely to be in any way concerned in the matter." Wolfenden knocked the ash off his cigarette without replying. "You seem," he remarked, "to be on fairly intimate terms with Miss Merton." "We were fellow workers for several months," Mr. Blatherwick reminded him; "naturally, we saw a good deal of one another." "She is," Wolfenden continued, "a very charming girl." "I consider her, in every way," Mr. Blatherwick said with enthusiasm, "a most delightful young lady. I--I am very much attached to her." Wolfenden laid his hand on the secretary's shoulder. "Blatherwick," he said, "you're a good fellow, and I like you. Don't be offended at what I am going to say. You must not trust Miss Merton; she is not quite what she appears to you." Mr. Blatherwick took a step backward, and flushed red with anger. "I do not understand you, Lord Wolfenden," he said. "What do you know of Miss Merton?" "Not very much," Wolfenden said quietly; "quite enough, though, to justify me in warning you seriously against her. She is a very clever young person, but I am afraid a very unscrupulous one." Mr. Blatherwick was grave, almost dignified. "Lord Wolfenden," he said, "you are the son of my employer, but I take the liberty of telling you that you are a l--l----" "Steady, Blatherwick," Wolfenden interrupted; "you must not call me names." "You are not speaking the truth," Mr. Blatherwick continued, curbing himself with an effort. "I will not listen to, or--or permit in my presence any aspersion against that young lady!" Wolfenden shook his head gently. "Mr. Blatherwick," he said, "don't be a fool! You ought to know that I am not the sort of man to make evil remarks about a lady behind her back, unless I knew what I was talking about. I cannot at this moment prove it, but I am morally convinced that Miss Merton came here to-day at the instigation of the person who wrote to you, and that she only refrained from making you some offer because she knew quite well that we were within hearing." "I will not listen to another word, Lord Wolfenden," Mr. Blatherwick declared vigorously. "If you are honest, you are cruelly misjudging that young lady; if not you must know yourself the proper epithet to be applied to the person who defames an innocent girl behind her back! I wish you good afternoon, sir. I shall leave Deringham Hall to-morrow." He strode away, and Wolfenden watched him with a faint, regretful smile upon his lips. Then he turned round suddenly; a little trill of soft musical laughter came floating out from a recess in the darkest corner of the hall. Miss Merton was leaning back amongst the cushions of a lounge, her eyes gleaming with amusement. She beckoned Wolfenden to her.