She looked up into his face and found it difficult to maintain her indignation.

His expression, besides being distinctly pleasant, was full of a respectful admiration.
"Will you please let me pass ?" she insisted.
"Madam," he replied, "I am afraid that it is your intention to ring the bell." "Of course it is," she admitted.

"Don't dare to prevent me." "Madam, I do not wish to prevent you," he assured her.

"A few moments' delay--that is all I plead for." "Will you explain at once, sir," Philippa demanded, "what you mean by forcing your way into my house in this extraordinary fashion, and by locking that door ?" "I am most anxious to do so," was the prompt reply.

"I am correct, of course, in my first surmise that you are Lady Cranston--and you Miss Fairclough ?" he added, bowing ceremoniously to both of them.