As one result of her interview with Marbridge, Joan returned to her quarters in a state of thoughtfulness which was responsible not only for her forgetting the appointment with Matthias and the risk she ran of encountering Quard at every corner, but also for her unquestioning acceptance of Hattie's absence from the flat in the face of her expressed determination not to go out that afternoon.
Hattie, however, was nothing loath to explain her change of mind when she blew in cheerfully shortly before dinner-time.
"Hello!" she exclaimed, tossing her hat one way and her parasol another. "Did you miss me?"
Joan looked up blankly from the depths of her musing. "No," she said dully. "Why?"
"Well, you went off half-peeved because I wouldn't go trapesing with you—and then I went out after all."
"Oh—I'd forgotten," Joan admitted without much interest.
"Well, I didn't mean to go out, but Billy Emerson sent me a tip and ... I bet you can't guess who I've seen."
Joan shook her head.
"Arlington!"
"Arlington!" Joan exclaimed.