"At once, please."
In relaying the order to the chauffeur the maid volunteered the interesting information that she had left the Judge swallowing his breakfast with unprecedented haste, and that the newspaper had not been unfolded. The chauffeur, having designs of a serious nature upon her, was obliged to conceal his natural repugnance to haste, disassociated from a motor: but he consoled himself with the other part of her message. It was not unpleasant to discover in the lady of one's choice such evidence of keen perception. He went to his task whistling.
III
As Roger came down to breakfast he fancied he heard the front door slam. Judith was just leaving the library.
"Having callers?" he asked cheerfully.
"No," she said shortly. He noticed suddenly that her face seemed bloodless. Fired with a vague suspicion that matters were not as they should be, he strolled over to the window.
"Whose car is that outside? Say—that looks for all the world like the Judge. What's he doing out at this hour d'ye suppose?"
"I'm sure I can't guess." Judith's voice seemed curiously dry and husky. She was gazing sightlessly straight before her. Roger ached to voice the questions which rose in his mind, but the expression on his sister's face deterred him. He contented himself with studying her narrowly.
It was Judith who broke the silence first.