Lightly she descended the stairs. The library was dark as she stepped in, but she pushed a button and turned on the electric lights. At the same moment she detected an odor of tobacco smoke. The flood of light showed her a person standing near the centre of the room, his feet quite wide apart, smoking a cigarette.
“Fred!” she exclaimed, startled; “Fred Fillmore!”
CHAPTER XXIX.
FRED FILLMORE’S ADVANCES.
The young man regarded Inza with a peculiar look. His face was flushed and his manner unnatural.
“Good evening, Miss Burrage,” he bowed, with cool self-assurance. “This is a great pleasure, I declare.”
She detected something odd in his speech, and, being quick of wit, decided at once that he had been drinking. He wore a blue coat, light trousers, tan shoes, outing shirt and no waistcoat. His necktie was carelessly knotted. The evening was almost oppressively warm.
Inza caught her breath.
“You startled me,” she confessed.