"Converse?" Charlotte repeated when he had announced his identity; and after a slight hesitation she asked, "The detective engaged in the De Sanchez case, are you not?" Her dark eyes continued to regard him steadily; there was not the faintest play of expression in her face, which seemed merely sad and worn and white; but during the brief hesitation he noticed that she laid one hand above her heart.
"I am either going to have plain sailing here," the caller mentally observed, "or in about two minutes there begins the devil's own time for John Converse." To her question he answered:
"Yes, Miss Fairchild; and I hope my unceremonious call does not startle you. While you must grant me your indulgence, let me assure you at the outset that there is not the slightest occasion for alarm." The keen gray eyes became all at once fixed and compelling, giving a forceful meaning to the concluding words. "I have come here to give you an opportunity to help a friend out of a very serious trouble."
For an instant she regarded him blankly; then quickly her countenance, her glance, became fairly electrified.
"A friend?—trouble?—whom?" she demanded, briefly and directly.
As we know, it was not Mr. Converse's custom to take strangers into his confidence, to express theories, nor to yield up motives; but if he was certain of anything at this moment, it was a conviction that whatever success was to come from this meeting depended entirely upon his sincerity and absolute frankness. If such eyes and such a manner did not mean constancy and unshakable loyalty to friends, then these virtues did not exist. If he concealed anything at all, it would be to spare her feelings.
There was a pause after her question. The cold, masterful gray eyes returned the look of the fearless, lovely dark eyes during a silence wherein each sought to read the other's purpose. Then he replied:
"Miss Fairchild, it will take some time to answer your question; it involves so much, and I shall have to tell you so much before you can understand, that I fear your patience will—"
"But a friend," she interrupted; "you said a friend was in trouble. Who? I do not understand."
He bowed. "That is what I wish to tell you. Am I to take it that you will hear me; that I may tell it in my own way?"