He glanced at his watch uneasily. “You’ll pardon me,” he said, rising. “I had a few minutes and I thought I’d drop in and see you. I must keep an appointment. Thank you for what you have said about Winifred.”
As he withdrew I shot a hasty glance at Craig. Should I follow him? Kennedy negatived.
Apparently not even the intrusion of Shelby had got out of his mind either the dilemma we were in or the hidden message that he seemed on the point of reading.
“An engagement,” commented Hastings, incredulously. “Since when has Shelby had important engagements? More than likely it is something to do with this Paquita woman.”
There was no mistaking the opinion that Hastings had of the youngest scion of the house of Maddox. Nor was it unjustified. Shelby’s escapades had been notorious, though I had always noticed that, in the aftermath of the stories, Shelby was quite as much, if not more, sinned against than sinning. Young men of his stamp are subject to many more temptations than some of the rest of us. If Shelby were coming through all right, I reflected, so much the greater credit for him.
Kennedy either shared my own feelings toward Shelby or had decided that he was not at present worth considering to the delay of something more important.
I looked over his shoulder, fascinated, as he fell to work again immediately on the cipher with the same zest which he had displayed before Shelby’s interruption.
Rapidly Kennedy translated the figures into letters and, as each word was set down on paper, became more and more excited.
Finally he leaped up and seized his hat.
“Confound her!” he exclaimed, “that explains it all! Look!”