"Oh, Mr. Norton is just a valuable friend," returned Florence with a smile that quite deceived the other woman. "I shall be glad to go to the tea. But I shall not promise to dance."
"Reporters never dance themselves; they make others dance instead."
"I shall have to tell that," declared the countess; and she laughed quite honestly.
"Indeed you have; and it is not only witty but truthful. I'm afraid you're deeper than the rest of us have any idea of."
"Perhaps I am," thought Florence; "at least deeper than you believe."
When the countess fluttered down to her limousine--Florence hated the sight of it--and drove away, Florence remembered her letters. And when she came to the one purporting to be from her father, she read it carefully, bent her head in thought, and finally destroyed the missive, absolutely confident that it was only a trap, and not very well conceived at that. Norton had given her plenty of reason for believing all such letters to be forgeries. Her father, if he really wished to see her, would enter the house; he would not write. Ah, when would she see that father of hers, so mysterious, always hovering near, always unseen?
It must have been an amusing adventure for the countess. To steal into the summer house and wait there, not knowing if Florence had advised Jones or the reporter. If caught, she had her excuses. Paroff, the confident, however, appeared shortly after.
And Olga stifled a laugh; but to him it sounded like a sob.
"I am worn out," he said. "I am tired of the game of hide and seek."
"You will not have to play the game long," thought Olga.
"The money is hidden in my office down-town. And we must go there at once. When we return we will pack up and leave for Europe. I've longed to see you so!"
"You poor fool! And they sent you to supersede Leo!" she mused.
She played out the farce to the very end. She permitted herself to be pinioned and jogged; and for what unnecessary roughness she suffered at the hands of Paroff he would presently pay. He took her straight to the executive chamber of the Black Hundred and pushed her into the room, exclaiming triumphantly:
[Illustration: HE TOOK HER STRAIGHT TO THE EXECUTIVE CHAMBER OF THE BLACK HUNDRED]
"Indeed!" said Olga, throwing back her veil and standing revealed in her mask.