“Don’t come in! Don’t come in here!” she shrieked. “Mr. Laverick, do you hear? Go away! Don’t come in here alone!”
Her brother was the first to reach her, his hand fell upon her mouth brutally. Her little effort was naturally a failure—defeating, in fact, its own object. Laverick, hearing her cries, simply hastened his coming, threw open the door without waiting to knock, and stepped quickly across the threshold. He saw a man dressed in shabby workman’s clothes, unshaven, dishevelled, holding Zoe in a rough grasp, and with a single well-directed blow he sent him reeling across the room. Then something in the man’s cry, a momentary glimpse of his white face, revealed his identity.
“Morrison!” he cried. “Good God, it’s Morrison!”
Arthur Morrison was crouching in a corner of the room, his evil face turned upon his aggressor. Laverick took quick stock of his surroundings. There was the tall, fair young man—Adolf Kahn—whom he had seen at the Milan a few hours ago—the man who had unsuccessfully forged his name. There was Lassen, the man who, under pretence of being her manager, had been a spy upon Louise. There was Streuss, with blanched face and hard features, standing with his back to the door. There was Zoe, and, behind, her brother. She held out her hands timidly towards him, and her eyes were soft with pleading.
“I did not want you to come here, Mr. Laverick,” she cried softly. “I tried so hard to stop you. It was not I who sent that message.”
He took her cold little fingers and raised them to his lips.
“I know it, dear,” he murmured.
Then a movement in the room warned him, and he was suddenly on guard. Lassen was close to his side, some evil purpose plainly enough written in his pasty face and unwholesome eyes. Laverick gave him his left shoulder and sent him staggering across the floor. He was angry at having been outwitted and his eyes gleamed ominously.
“Well, gentlemen,” he exclaimed, “you seem to have taken unusual pains to secure my presence here! Tell me now, what can I do for you?”
It was Streuss who became spokesman. He addressed Laverick with the consideration of one gentleman addressing another. His voice had many agreeable qualities. His demeanor was entirely amicable.