“Your brother Alec!” he said, quite loudly.
“I never knew anyone called Alec in my life.”
Mr. Petersen stopped short and grasped her arm.
“Please, Miss Defoe,” he said, “try to recollect your brother. It—it’s very important!”
She looked at him with a puzzled frown.
“I’m sorry, but I never had a brother. Minnie and I were the only children. What made you——?”
He looked terribly shocked. He couldn’t go on, but remained stock still in the street, wiping his brow with an enormous handkerchief.
“Of course,” he said, in a stunned sort of voice, “it’s some—some kind of—misunderstanding. We’ll soon clear it up. Nothing to worry over.”
But she could see how terribly worried, how filled with dread and horror he was, and she too grew apprehensive.
“I wish you’d explain!” she entreated.