Page:Arthur Stringer - The Door of Dread.djvu/274

 Wilsnach, as he held her there, leaned down and did a very human but a very indiscreet thing. He pressed his lips against the full red lips that were so close to his own. And it startled him a little to find them quite warm and the pressure of them against his own a sensation that was unexpectedly and altogether pleasant.

Equally startling was the effect of that caress on Sadie herself. Resolute as she was in the performance of her professional duty, fixed as had been her determination to play out her part, that one unlooked for touch was too much for her. Her will crumbled under it. All memory slipped away from her. She no longer thought of Shindler or Kestner or the case that had brought her within those unsavory walls. All she knew was that Wilsnach had kissed her.

Her reaction to that advance was both unwilled and immediate. Her eyes opened dreamily and for one moment she stared up into his face. Then her head sank contentedly down into the hollow of his protecting shoulder. Her arms tightened about his neck. And in a response as unreasoned as had been those movements themselves she found herself murmuring: "Do yuh care? Do yuh?"