This time she was told that Blake was in, but could see no one. Undeterred by this statement, Katherine walked quickly past the stenographer and straight for his private door, which she quickly and quietly opened and closed.
Blake was sitting at his desk, his head bowed forward in one hand. He was so deep in thought, and she had entered so quietly, that he had not heard her. She crossed to his desk, stood opposite him, and for a moment gazed down upon his head.
“Mr. Blake,” she remarked at length.
He started up.
“You here!” he ejaculated.
“Yes. I came to talk to you.”
He did not speak at once, but stood staring a little wildly at her. She had not spoken to him since the day of her father’s trial, nor seen him save at a distance. She was now startled at the change this closer view revealed to her. His eyes were sunken and ringed with purple, his face seemed worn and thin, and had taken on a tinge of yellowish-green.
“I left orders that I could see no one,” he said, trying to speak sharply.
“I know,” she answered quietly. “But you’ll see me.”
For an instant he hesitated.