“Blackmail, eh?” said Cartwright between his teeth, and without a word left the room.
CHAPTER VII
HE went straight back to his flat on the Avenue of the Grand Army, and the girl could see by his face that something had happened.
“You might pack my bag, will you?” he said almost brusquely. “I have a letter or two to write. I’m going to London. Important business has arisen, and I may be gone some time.”
Wisely she asked no questions, but carried out his instructions. When she came back from the room with a little gripsack packed, he was blotting the envelope of the last letter.
“Post these after I have gone,” he said.
“Shall I come down to the station and see you off?”
He shook his head.
“The less you and I are seen together, the better, I think,” he said with a faint smile.
He opened a drawer of his desk and took out a cash-box. From this he extracted a thick wad of notes, and, counting them rapidly, he tossed a respectable bundle into her lap.