The hurricane now roared in full fury. Peering out into the deserted street, it seemed to Penny that no person could stand against its strength. Yet as she closed the doors, she was amazed to see a scurrying figure.
The man, his hat gone, overcoat whipped between his legs, grasped a corner of the building for support.
Seeing his face, Penny drew in her breath sharply. A small jagged scar disfigured one cheek. As he struggled past the door, she reached out and grasped his arm.
“Come in here out of the wind,” she urged. As she gazed directly into his eyes, she added distinctly: “We have been looking for you a long while, Mr. Rhett!”
CHAPTER
23
IN THE PRESSROOM
“You have made a mistake,” the man mumbled. “I am not Mr. Rhett. My name is Brown—Edgar Brown.”
Penny, none too certain of the identification, gazed at the man’s hands. They were soft and white as if unaccustomed to hard work, but he wore no serpent ring on any of his fingers. She felt certain this was the man she had met at the steamship office.
The stranger pulled gently away from her grasp, ready to start out into the howling wind once more.
“You’ll be swept off your feet if you try to battle that storm!” Penny protested. “You must stay here until the worst of it is over!”
“But I am not Mr. Rhett.”