"Come on!" roared Steppe.
"I'll see you this afternoon. I have an engagement now."
Merville went hastily after the big man. Ronnie followed, overtaking them as they were getting into the elevator.
"Will you tell Beryl that I am coming to see her tonight?"
"She'll not see you!" exploded Steppe, "no decent woman would see you—"
"What an ape you are!" said Ronnie reproachfully, "don't you realize that I'm not talking to you?"
XII
Jan Steppe's solitary lunch was served at midday, an hour which ensured his solitude, for he was a man who liked his meals alone. He was nearing the finish of his repast, his enormous appetite unimpaired by his unhappy experience of the morning, when two men mounted the steps of his Berkeley Square residence. They were unknown to one another; one had walked, the other had descended from a taxi, and they stood aside politely.
"You are first, sir," said the taller and healthier of the two.