She did not ask him in and this omission he did not appear to notice. He looked about the hall and then at the girl. At the look her fear returned.
"Did you know about Fanny and Loftus?" he suddenly asked. "They're going to elope." As he spoke he leaned back heavily against the door. "I shall kill him," he added thickly.
Sylvia wrung her hands. "Oh, Arthur, you have been drinking again. You promised that you never would."
"I shall kill him," Annandale stubbornly repeated.
"Oh, don't say such things," the girl pleaded. "Don't say them. Go home."
Annandale turned sullenly, opened the door and looking back, muttered, "I have no home."
Closing the door after him he started down the steps. They were few and wide, easy of descent. But they had become unaccountably steep. He caught at a rail. It steadied him. He stood there a moment. Then, a bit uncertainly, he zigzagged on.
CHAPTER V
EXIT FANNY
