She wasn't. Her gray eyes met mine steadily.
"I hoped you'd call me today," she said. "When you didn't--I had dinner
with dad. I got back after the theater--and I heard your radio go on. I
finally decided to knock on your door. But when I unlocked the one on
my side--I found yours open. I was just about to say boo! and ask for
a drink. I'll be good and go quietly afterward."
She said it steadily, rapidly, so that I knew, and Gwen knew, she had
prepared it.
"Mrs. Prentiss," I said, "Yvonne Prentiss--Miss Gwen Talyor."
Yvonne turned and held out her hand.
She was wearing a black dinner dress; black was certainly for her.
Gwen took her hand and kept it and said to me, "Does a beautiful
brunette live on the other side?"
I laughed. "And a platinum blonde across the hall. Just below me
lives--"
"I know," Gwen answered. "Don't tell us."