Nick's glance darted over him for an instant. "What method have you been employing? Coercion? Persuasion? Indifference? Or strategy?"
Max's hands showed clenched inside his pockets. "I'm leaving her alone," he growled.
"Then change your tactics at once!" said Nick. "Try an advance!"
"That's just the mischief. In the present damnable state of affairs, I am powerless. Violet Campion is hating me pretty badly, and—she—is thinking it clever to follow suit. She is avoiding me like the plague."
"That's sometimes a good sign," said Nick thoughtfully.
"Not in this case. It only means she is afraid of me."
Nick's glance flashed up at him again. "For any special reason?"
"I have given her none."
"Violet again?" queried Nick.
"Probably."