The worst he can do is to refuse," she concluded, with a kind of forlorn optimism; "at least he can't kill me." Making a hurried excuse, she went back to the telephone, and calling up the judge, asked for an appointment in his office at five o'clock.

From his surprised response she inferred his curiosity, and from his hearty acquiescence, she gathered that his surprise was not an unpleasant one.
"At five o'clock, then.

It is so good of you.

There is a little matter of business.

Yes, I know how kind you are, and of course your advice is invaluable.