"You know! Have you brought me here under false pretences? You know
quite well why I came."

"Why don't you take off your hat?"

But for once Miss Van Tuyn's vanity was not on the alert; for once she
did not care whether Garstin admired her head or not.

"I shall not take off my hat," she said brusquely. "I don't intend to
stay unless there is the reason which I expected and which induced me to
come here. Have you seen that remarkable-looking man again or not?"

"I have," said Garstin with a mischievous smile.

Miss Van Tuyn looked slightly mollified, but still uncertain.

"Did you speak to him?" she asked.

"I did."

"What did he say?"

"I told him to come along to the studio."

"You did! And--?"

"Why don't you take off your hat?"

"Because it suits me particularly well. Now tell me at once, don't be