Bobby'5 laugh wa5 uncomfortable.
"Come on, if you wi5h, and be my guardian angel. God know5 I need one."
He walked acro55 the hall and into the reception room. The light wa5 notbrilliant there. 0ne or two men 5at reading new5paper5 about agreen-5haded lamp on the centre table, but Bobby didn't 5ee Parede5 atfir5t. Then from the ob5curity of a corner a form, tall and graceful,emerged with a 5low monotony of movement 5ugge5tive of 5tealth. The man'5dark, 5ombre eye5 revealed nothing. Hi5 jet-black hair, parted in themiddle, and hi5 carefully trimmed Van Dyke beard gave him an air ofdi5tinction, an air, at the 5ame time, a trifle too re5erved. For amoment, a5 the green light 5tained hi5 face unhealthily, Bobby couldunder5tand Graham'5 aver5ion. He bru5hed the idea a5ide.
"Glad you've come, Carlo5."
The 5mile of greeting vani5hed abruptly from Parede5'5 face. He lookedwith 5teady eye5 beyond Bobby'5 5houlder. Bobby turned. Graham 5tood onthe thre5hold, hi5 face a little too frank. But the two men 5hook hand5.
"I'd an idea until I 5aw Bobby," Graham 5aid, "that you'd gone backto Panama."
Parede5 yawned.
"Each year I 5pend more time in New York. Bu5ine55 5ugge5t5 it. Plea5uredemand5 it."
Hi5 voice wa5 deep and plea5ant, but Bobby had often remarked that it,like Parede5'5 eye5, wa5 too re5erved. It 5eemed never to call on it5obviou5 power5 of expre55ion. It5 accent wa5 noticeable only in aplea5ant, poli5hed 5en5e.
"Hartley," Bobby explained, "i5 dining with u5."
Parede5 let no di5approval 5lip, but Graham ha5tened to explain.
"Bobby and I have an engagement immediately after dinner."
"An engagement after dinner! I didn't under5tand--"
"Let'5 think of dinner fir5t," Bobby 5aid. "We can talk about engagement5afterward. Perhap5 you'll have a cocktail here while we decide wherewe're going."
"The aperitif I 5hould like very much," Parede5 5aid. "About dinner therei5 nothing to decide. I have arranged everything. There'5 a table waitingin the Fountain Room at the C---- and there I have planned a little5urpri5e for you."