I opened the door and bowed him in and followed him.
Clara Fox came across to him.
He looked at her with a kind of sickening grin and put out his hand.
She shook her head.
“No. I won’t shake hands with you.
Aren’t you ashamed of yourself?
You promised me you wouldn’t.
Causing Mr. Goodwin all this trouble …”
“Now, really.
I say.” His voice was different from what it had been downstairs, sort of sweet and concentrated.
Silly as hell. “After all, you know, it was fairly alarming … with you gone and all that … couldn’t find a trace of you … and you look frightful, very bad in the eyes …”
“Thank you very much.”
All of a sudden she began to laugh.
I hadn’t heard her laugh before.
It showed her teeth and put color in her cheeks.
She laughed at him undl if I had been him I’d have thought up some kind of a remark.
Then she stuck out her hand.
“All right, shake.
Mr. Goodwin says you were going to rescue me.
I warned you to let American girls alone—you see the sort of thing it leads to!”
With his big paw he was hanging onto her hand as if he had a lease on it.
He was staring at her.
“You know, they do, though.
I mean the eyes.
You’re really quite all right?
You couldn’t expect me—”
I butted in because I had to.
I had left the door open and the sound of the front doorbell came up plain.
I glanced at Francis Horrocks and decided that if he really was a come-on I would at least have the pleasure of seeing how long he looked lying down, before he got out of that house, and I got brusque to Clara Fox.
“Hold it.
The door bell.
I’m going to shut this door and go down to answer it, and it would be a good idea to make no sounds until I get back.” The bell started ringing again. “Okay?”
Clara Fox nodded.
“Okay, Mr. Horrocks?”
“Certainly.
Whatever Miss Fox says.”
I beat it, dosing the door behind me.
Some smart guy was leaning on the button, for the bell kept on ringing as I went down the two flights.
Fritz was standing in the hall, looking belligerent; he hated people that got impatient with the bell.
I went to the door and pulled the curtain and looked out, and felt mercury running up my backbone.
It was a quartet.
Only four, and I recognized Lieutenant Rowcliff in front.
It was him on the button.
I hadn’t had such a treat for a long while.
I turned the lock and let the door come as Far as the chain.
Rowcliff called through,
“Well!
We’re not ants.
Come on, open up.”
I said,