She paused again. "He has been round at the studio two or three evenings," she said slowly. "As a matter of fact, he was there last night."
"I suppose he's heard all about your new job?"
She nodded. "Doctor Gray——" she began.
"Make it Colin," he interrupted. "I can't call you Nancy unless you back me up."
"Well, Colin, then——" She hesitated once more. "There's something I think I ought to tell you about Major Fenton, only—only it's horribly difficult for me to know how to put it."
"Wait until you've had some dinner," he suggested. "No one talks comfortably when they're half starving."
She shook her head. "No, now I've started I think I'd better go on and get it over. The first time I saw Major Fenton after we met him together he naturally asked me who you were. I told him what I knew about you and how we'd become acquainted, and, although he didn't say much, he seemed to think that I'd done wrong in asking you back to my studio. I suppose in a way he looks on himself as a sort of guardian of mine."
"Perhaps he does," said Colin gravely. "People who have lived a long time in hot climates often suffer from hallucinations!"
"That didn't matter," continued Nancy, "but last night when he came round he spoke about you again, and this time he said something that made me really angry—something that I'm perfectly sure isn't true."
Colin was leaning toward her, his gray eyes alight with interest.