I'd hate to be late and--" He got no further.

Nor did he seek to.

His ears had been straining to make certain of the ever approaching sound of footsteps across the lawn.

Now an impatient tread echoed on the veranda, and a man's figure blocked the doorway.
The newcomer was slender, graceful, with the form of an athletic boy rather than of a mature man.

He was pallid and black eyed.