CHAPTER 12Lois did not go into the office; she left her friend on the threshold and went on to the appointment she sought. Leaving the car in Parliament Street, she walked down Whitehall to the Home Office building, and, filling in a blank, took her place in the waiting-room.
There was very little possibility, she told herself that the august Under-Secretary, of whom she craved an interview, would grant her that privilege, in spite of the pressing nature of the note which she had sent with the official form. She began to despair and was looking round at the waiting-room clock for the tenth time, when a messenger came for her.
“Miss Reddle?” he asked, “will you follow me?”
Her heart beat a little faster as he knocked on an imposing door, and, opening it, announced her name. An elderly ma
