The next door down the corridor was the one that led directly into his
private office, and here the light shone through the ground-glass.

She stole up to it as softly as she could, tried it and found it locked,
too, so she knocked. Through the open transom above it, she heard him
say "Hell!" in a heartfelt sort of way, and heard his chair thrust
back. The next moment he opened the door with a jerk.

His glare of annoyance changed to bewilderment at the sight of her, and
he said:

"Rose! Has anything happened? What's the matter?" And catching her by
the arm, he led her into the office. "Here, sit down and get your breath
and tell me about it!"

She smiled and took his face in both her hands. "But it's the other
way," she said. "There's nothing the matter with me. I came down, you
poor old boy, to see what was the matter with you."

He frowned and took her hands away and stepped back out of her reach.
Had it not been for the sheer incredibility of it, she'd have thought
that her touch was actually distasteful to him.

"Oh," he said. "I thought I told you over the phone there was nothing
the matter!--Won't you be awfully late to the Randolphs'?"

"I had ten minutes," she said, "and I thought ..."

She broke off the sentence when she saw him snap out his watch and look
at it.