"Please ask her to come in."
The woman eyed him in a manner he was too excited to understand.
"She would like to speak to you at the door, Sir, if you wouldn't mind going out."
He hastened thither. The front door stood open, and a light from the passage shone on Patty's face. In the girl's look he saw at once that something was wrong.
"Oh, Mr. Hilliard—I didn't know your number—I've been to a lot of houses asking for you——"
"What is it?" he inquired, going out on to the doorstep.
"I called to see Eve, and—I don't know what it meant, but she's gone away. The landlady says she left this morning with her luggage—went away for good. And it's so strange that she hasn't let me know anything. I can't understand it. I wanted to ask if you know——"
Hilliard stared at the house opposite.
"I? I know nothing whatever about it. Come in and tell me——"
"If you wouldn't mind coming out——"