"Go down those stairs, and you'll find yourself in a corridor. Turn to the left and go straight ahead; take the second turning on the left again, and on the right you'll see another flight of stairs. That is the Langthorne Place entrance to this block of flats. When you get into the street, turn to the right, and then the first to the right again brings you----" Maudie interposed plaintively. "I forget already what you said first. I'm sure to get lost." At this moment the electric bell rang out. "Shall I come with you, and put you safely into a taxi?" suggested Evarne suddenly. This offer was accepted with alacrity. "Oh, that is kind of you, Miss Stornway. You must think I'm a silly little baby, but----" Evarne did not listen. She picked up her hat. "I wish he had not come," she said softly to Geoff as she inserted hatpins. "Don't let him talk about me, will you, or you may quarrel, and I should be so worried about that?" Here the bell rang out again--a long insistent strain. Evarne stepped hurriedly with Maudie into the little corridor, closing the studio door after her. Geoff waited a minute or two to allow them time to get clear away, then admitted his cousin. The course Evarne had thus adopted was indeed prompted by cowardice, but it was also upheld by policy. At the sound of Winborough's first ring, a terrible shudder of repulsion had thrilled through her every nerve. The necessity of again beholding that man who stood without seemed absolutely overwhelming. She clenched her hands violently at the remembrance of his brutal and gratuitous insults of the previous evening. Had she the strength, the fortitude to meet him once more and remain impassive? She mistrusted herself. Ah, if she only dared flee before him as Maudie was doing. And from this desire had sprung the thought that she would probably really safeguard her own cause by being absent at this moment--that her presence in the studio, far from being necessary, would be a decided additional menace to her safety. At the present moment Morris was under a pledge of silence concerning her; Geoff, too, had a secret he was not anxious to divulge. Unless provoked by some exterior event, it was more than probable that her name would be deliberately avoided by both men. Moreover, the presence of Jack and Pallister would further suffice to prevent the cousins willingly introducing a subject that was likely to lead to contention. But were she actually in the room with them, who could tell what might not result from so painful and awkward a situation? A hundred unforeseen complications might easily ensue, leading to defiance, loss of self-control, disregard of promises, betrayal! No, this precious chance so innocently offered her by Maudie of getting out of the place for a time was not to be neglected.