"No, not at all."
She made way for him to pass into her sitting-room. There followed an awkward pause which he tried to fill with the laying down of his hat and the discarding of his gloves. Sally stood there where she had closed the door, waiting for him to explain his presence. Had he brought a message for her from Jack? Had he come to see Jack—knowing nothing—and, finding the rooms below occupied by another tenant, had he come to learn the reason of her? Why had he come? And at last he turned frankly to her.
"Miss Bishop, I saw Jack the other day. He told me."
Sally lifted her head with an assumption of pride, a strained effort to show the pride that Janet had urged her to possess. She crossed the room and dropped into a chair.
"Aren't you going to sit down?" she asked.
"Thanks." He took the nearest chair, winding his watch-chain about his finger to convey the air that he was at ease.
"Did Jack send you to see me?" she asked then.
"No."
"You've no message from him?"
"No."