"An old friend of yours has just come in to see my Van Decken," he said quietly. His eyes were slightly quizzical.
Nan turned her face a little aside.
"I know. Where—where is he?"
"I took him along to have some tea. I've left him with the Fentons; they can prepare him for the . . . shock."
She flushed angrily.
"Maryon! You're outrageous!" she protested.
"I imagined. I was showing great consideration, seeing I've no cause to bear Mallory any overwhelming goodwill."
"I thought you had only met him once or twice?"
Rooke looked down at her with an odd expression.
"True—in the old days, only once. At your flat. But we've knocked up against each other several times since then. And Mrs. Van Decken asked him to come and see her portrait."