The portieres parted that closed the doorway to the drawing-room, Folly
entered and halted, her slight figure now decorously clothed but drawn
up to the full of its inches and from the crown of the dainty head to
the tips of silken slippers tense with contempt from whose fire, ablaze
in her eyes, Morphew had the grace to flinch.
"And now, before this witness," Lanyard pursued, "you add a threat
against my life. It's more than I hoped for, Morphew, all I need to
insure me a sound night's sleep. If I don't wake up from it unharmed,
Mrs. McFee will know what to do. Must you go? Soames, no doubt, is
waiting to show you out. But if you'd rather I gave you a lift with my
foot--"
Morphew gave an incoherent bellow, lunged blindly to the door, threw it
open and himself through to the hall. The very floor of the house quaked
with the pounding of his feet as he stampeded for open air. The street
door banged like thunder while Lanyard stood laughing into Folly's
eyes.