The butler admitted them. "Luncheon for two," she said, and mounted the stairs without pausing.
McKay remained in the hall until he had been separated from hat and coat; then he slowly ascended the stairway. She was waiting on the landing and she took him directly into the library where a wood fire was burning.
"Just a moment," she said, "to make myself as—as persuasive as I can."
"You are perfectly equipped, Miss Erith—"
"Oh, no, I must do better than I have done. This is the great moment of our careers, Mr. McKay." Her smile, brightly forced, left his grim features unresponsive. The undertone in her voice warned him of her determination to have her way.
He took an involuntary step toward the door like a caged thing that sees a loophole, halted as she barred his way, turned his marred young visage and glared at her. There was something terrible in his intent gaze—a pale flare flickering in his eyes like the uncanny light in the orbs of a cornered beast.
"You'll wait, won't you?" she asked, secretly frightened now.
After a long interval, "Yes," his lips motioned.
"Thank you. Because it is the supreme moment of our lives. It involves life or death…. Be patient with me. Will you?"
"But you must be brief," he muttered restlessly. "You know what I need. I am sick, I tell you!"