A strange coldness came suddenly to the girl—and a second before she had glowed to their sympathy. It was the suspicion of their insincerity that chilled her. Their kindness was just a little too glib and too ready. Brady’s just a little too overpowering.
“Do you like your brother’s flat?” asked Lola, sitting down and stretching her silk-covered legs to a patch of sunlight.
“It is very—handsome,” said Ella. “He will find Horsham rather dull when he comes back.”
“Will he go back?” Lola flashed a smile at the youth as she asked the question.
“Not much I won’t,” said Ray energetically. “I’ve been trying to make Ella understand that my business is too important to leave.”
Lola nodded, and now the antagonism which Ella in her charity was holding back came with a rush.
“What is the business?” she asked.
He went on to give her a vague and cautious exposition of his work, and she listened without comment.
“So if you think that I’m doing anything crooked, or have friends that aren’t as straight as you and father are, get the idea out of your head. I’m not afraid of Gordon or Elk or any of that lot. Don’t think I am. Nor is Brady, nor Miss Bassano. Gordon is one of those cheap detectives who has got his ideas out of books.”
“That’s perfectly true, Miss Bennett,” said Lew virtuously. “Gordon is just a bit too clever. He’s got the idea that everybody but himself is crook. Why, he sent Elk down to cross-examine your own father! Believe me, I’m not scared of Gordon, or any——”