He moved a step nearer. "Yes … but it is private."
The maid made a slight grimace and put her hand protectingly upon Mrs.
Hilmer's chair. Mrs. Hilmer shifted about impatiently.
"Never mind, Hilda," she snapped out. "I am not afraid."
The maid shrugged and departed.
"I have wanted to see her," Mrs. Hilmer went on, coldly. "But who could I send? … Few people understand her life."
"Ah, then you have guessed?"
"Guessed? … She has told me everything."
A shade of bitter malice crept into her face—the malice of a woman who has learned truths and is no longer shocked by them. Fred Starratt put his hat aside and he went up close to her.
"I lied to get in here," he said, quickly. "I am looking for Sylvia
Molineaux myself."
"Why don't you try the streets, then?" she flung out, venomously.