“Are you her friend or her enemy?” Tavernake asked. “Why do you ask such a question?” she demanded. “I am only going by her expression when she saw you come into the chemist's shop,” Tavernake persisted doggedly. “It is a cruel suggestion, that,” the woman cried. “I wish to be her friend, I am her friend. If I could only tell you everything, you would understand at once what a terrible situation, what a hideous quandary I am in.” Once more Tavernake paused for a few moments. He was never a quick thinker and the situation was certainly an embarrassing one for him. “Madam,” he replied at length, “I beg that you will tell me nothing. The young lady of whom you have spoken permits me to call myself her friend, and what she has not told me herself I do not wish to learn from others. I will tell her of this meeting with you, and if it is her desire, I will bring you her address myself within a few hours. I cannot do more than that.” Her face was suddenly cold and hard. “You mean that you will not!” she exclaimed angrily. “You are obstinate. I do not know how you dare to refuse what I ask.” The car had come to a standstill. He stepped out on to the pavement. “This is Grantham House, madam,” he announced. “Will you descend?” He heard her draw a quick breath between her teeth and he caught a gleam in her eyes which made him feel vaguely uneasy. She was very angry indeed. “I do not think that it is necessary for me to do so,” she said frigidly. “I do not like the look of the house at all. I do not believe that it will suit me.” “At least, now that you are here,” he protested, “you will, if you please, go over it. I should like you to see the ballroom. The decorations are supposed to be quite exceptional.” She hesitated for a moment and then, with a slight shrug of the shoulders, she yielded. There was a note in his tone not exactly insistent, and yet dominant, a note which she obeyed although secretly she wondered at herself for doing so. They passed inside the house and she followed him from room to room, leaving him to do all the talking. She seemed very little interested but every now and then she asked a languid question. “I do not think that it is in the least likely to suit me,” she decided at last. “It is all very magnificent, of course, but I consider that the rent is exorbitant.” Tavernake regarded her thoughtfully. “I believe,” he said, “that our client might be disposed to consider some reduction, in the event of your seriously entertaining taking the house. If you like, I will see him on the subject. I feel sure that the amount I have mentioned could be reduced, if the other conditions were satisfactory.” “There would be no harm in your doing so,” she assented. “How soon can you come and let me know?” “I might be able to ring you up this evening; certainly to-morrow morning,” he answered. She shook her head.