'You have not heard the last of this,' Greybrooke said from the doorway. 'I shall make it my duty to ferret out the coward's name, and——'
'Good-morning,' Mr. Licquorish repeated.
The captain went thumping down the stairs, and meeting a printer's devil at the bottom, cuffed him soundly because he was part of the Mirror.
To his surprise, Miss Meredith's first remark when he returned was—
'Oh, I hope you didn't see him.'
She looked at Greybrooke's face, fearing it might be stained with blood, and when he told her the result of his inquiries she seemed pleased rather than otherwise. Nell was soft-hearted after all, and she knew how that second copy of the novel had reached the Mirror office.
'I shall find the fellow out, though,' said Greybrooke, grasping his cudgel firmly.
'Why, you are as vindictive as if you had written the book yourself,' said Nell.
Greybrooke murmured, blushing the while, that an insult to her hurt him more than one offered to himself. Nell opened the eyes of astonishment.
'You don't think I wrote the book?' she asked; then seeing that it was so from his face, added, 'oh no, I'm not clever enough. It was written by—by a friend of mine.'