"How can I thank you for your prompt and brave assistance last evening? You saved my life. I shudder to think of what might have happened to me had you not been there. I am sure I should have been killed. I am too much upset to come to the office to-day. Please come to Brunswick Terrace this afternoon, that I may thank you personally for the great service you did me.
"The enclosed note for Mr. Parrott directs him to consult you on all affairs of the firm while I am away. You must take my place until I am quite well; you know everything about the business, as I am well aware by the valuable assistance you have so often given me.
"Please do not fail to come this afternoon.
"Always yours gratefully,
"Ellen Fairbrother."
George lunched that day at the Carlton, and from there proceeded in a hansom cab to Brunswick Terrace.
Miss Fairbrother had elected to remove her aunt for the time being, so that the interview was quite private.
The ordeal of being thanked by a rich young lady whose life you have saved must be a most embarrassing one to most men; to George it did not prove so. He found himself much more at ease than he had expected to be. The embarrassment was all on Miss Fairbrother's side.
She was not sparing in her praise of what she called "his noble action," but, though her voice had the ring of honesty, and her words were sincere, she found it easier to look at the pictures and the furniture than at George Early. Whenever she caught his eye, the pink glow in her cheeks deepened, and her fingers toyed nervously with the lace on her gown. Any young man with a proper regard for the delicate sensibilities of the fair sex would, on finding a young lady so prettily confused, make a valiant effort to put her at her ease. This George did by assuming a very modest demeanour and concentrating his gaze on the hearthrug. It was effectual, for it gave Miss Fairbrother confidence, and led her to speak of the valuable help George had given to the firm since he had accepted the office of junior clerk, facts which surprised George, and were a testimonial to Miss Fairbrother's skill as an inventor.
"I feel sure," she said impulsively, "that some day you will be a partner in the firm."