"She's pretty," said the girl cynically.
Mr. Willie Kinsall appeared to deliberate for a while; and then he said: "I'll see her."
When he did see her, he admitted that the description was correct. At her best, Patricia was beautiful; but for the benefit of Mr. Willie she had adopted a vivid red lip-stick, an extra quantity of rouge, and a generous use of mascara, to reduce herself to something close to the Saint's estimate of Mr. Willie's taste.
"How do you do, my dear?" he said. "I don't think we've — er—"
"We haven't," said the girl coolly. "But we should have. I'm your brother Walter's secretary — or I was."
Mr. Willie frowned questioningly.
"Did he send you to see me?"
Patricia threw back her head and gave a hard laugh.
"Did he send me to see you! If he knew I was here he'd probably murder me."
"Why?" asked Willie Kinsall cautiously.