"I want to speak to you," she said.
"Certainly. Won't you sit down?"
Kate jerked a hand toward the wide, curtained doorway through which Helen had entered.
"Close the door."
"Why?" asked Helen, surprised.
"Close the door," she repeated in the same low, short tone. "Nobody must hear."
The forced voice, and the repressed agitation of Kate's bearing, startled Helen. She drew together the easy-running doors, and returned to the table.
Kate jerked her hand toward the open plate-glass door that led into the conservatory.
"And that door."
"There's no one in there." But Helen closed the heavy pane of glass.