He opened the door for her, but she stopped on the threshold. A young woman was waiting in the hall.
"Mrs Brown has sent her girl to escort me," she said, "so we'll have to"—she corrected herself—"we must say good-night now. Is it good-bye, or shall I see you in the morning?"
His face had become very long again.
"I'm very much afraid not. I've got to report myself with the lark. Good-bye."
The front door closed behind her, and Commander Blacklock strode back to the fire and gazed at it for some moments.
"Well," he said to himself, "I suppose, looking at things as they ought to be looked at, Mrs Brown's girl has saved me from making a damned fool of myself! Now to work: that's my proper stunt."
He threw some sheets of foolscap on the table, took out his pen, and sat down to his work. For about five minutes he stared at the foolscap, but the pen never made a movement. Then abruptly he jumped up and exclaimed—
"Dash it, I must!"
Snatching up an envelope, he thrust it in his pocket, and a moment later was out of the house.
*****