She swept imperially before him into the portals of the house.
‘Mr. Redgrave,’ said Teresa, in a tone which clearly indicated that she meant to lead the conversation, ‘we have not seen each other since I was so foolish as to faint in the--the shed.’
They sat together in Richard’s little office. It was not without difficulty that he had induced her even to sit down. Her demeanour was hostile. Her fine, imperious face had a stormy and implacable look--a look almost resentful, and Richard felt something of a culprit before that gaze. He met her eyes, however, with such bravery as he could muster.
‘Not since then,’ he assented. ‘I trust you are fully recovered, Miss Craig.’
Ignoring the utterance of this polite hope, she resumed:
‘I have to thank you for the service you rendered on Saturday night.’
‘It was nothing,’ he said, in a voice as cold and formal as her own.
‘It was everything,’ she corrected him gravely. ‘I might have lost my life but for you.’
‘I am happy to have been of any assistance,’ he said. But his thoughts ran: ‘She hasn’t come to London to tell me this. What the deuce, then, has she come for?’
‘Bridget tells me you had an interview with my father that night. May I ask what passed?’ Teresa continued.
‘You have not seen your father since then?’ said Richard.
‘I have not.’ Her voice seemed momentarily to break.
‘I understood from Mr. Craig that he wished our interview to be strictly confidential.’
‘What?’ she cried. ‘From me? From his daughter?’
‘If, indeed, you are his daughter,’ said Richard quietly.
Her eyes blazed, and her hands shook; but she collected herself, and smiled bitterly:
‘You, then, have heard that silly rumour?’
‘I neither believe it nor disbelieve it. What has it to do with me?’
‘Exactly,’ she said; ‘a very proper question. What has it to do with you? Listen, Mr. Redgrave. I have the most serious reasons for asking you to tell me what passed between yourself and my father on Saturday night.’
A look of feminine appeal passed swiftly across her features. Fleeting as it was, it sufficed to conquer Richard. A minute ago he had meant to dominate her. Now he was dominated.
‘I will tell you,’ he said simply, and told her--told her everthing without any reservation.