As she approached, I stepped in front of her, lifting my hat.
“This is a great surprise, Miss Falconer,” said I.
CHAPTER X
DINNER FOR TWO
I was prepared for fear, for distress, for pleading as I confronted Miss Falconer; the one thing I hadn’t expected was that she should seem pleased at the meeting, but she did. She flushed a little, smiled brightly, and held out her gloved hand to me.
“Why, Mr. Bayne! I am so glad!” she exclaimed in frankly cordial tones.
The crass coolness of her tactics, with its implied rating of my intelligence, was the very bracer I needed for a most unpleasant task. I accepted her hand, bowed over it formally, and released it. Then I spoke with the most impersonal courtesy in the world.
“And I,” I declared coolly, “am delighted, I assure you. It is great luck meeting you like this; and I will not let you slip away. I suppose that when we board the train they will serve us a meal of some sort. Won’t you give me the pleasure of having you for my guest?”
The brightness had left her face as she sensed my attitude. She drew back, regarding me in a rebuffed, bewildered way.