He was talking to put Lela at her ease, but he was actually astonished by her appearance.
He had been so sure when he had been told that an Englishwoman wished to see him urgently that it was the usual trouble such as somebody stranded in a foreign country with no means of getting home.
Or else, as he had said jokingly, she had somehow become involved in a reprehensible manner with men who she could not escape from.
He was aware that Lela was elegantly dressed and therefore unlikely to be penniless.
But he had never imagined that anybody could look so incredibly lovely and at the same time be so afraid.
It was obvious to him that something was very wrong.
As she sat down, as he suggested on the sofa, he thought that it was a long time since he had seen a woman of any age who was so b
