CHAPTER 11After a while Henry Varick raised his head, and said with a kind of weary defiance: “Well, suppose I did see my father yesterday afternoon? What of it?”
“Nothing,” said Mme. Storey mildly. “I am only wondering why you tried to conceal the fact?”
“Well, I was tempted because it seemed easy to conceal it. I came through a secret entrance, and I met nobody. Nobody knew I was in the house except ... my mother.”
“And Miss Gilsey,” put in Mme. Storey.
He stared at her again. “You are a terrible woman!” he murmured. “... Yes, Miss Gilsey saw me come, because she is always with my mother. But she would not have betrayed me.”
“Nor your mother’s maids?”
“Nor my mother’s maids either. I didn’t notice whether they saw me or not.... As for my reason for concealing my visit, surely that
