Page:Arthur Stringer - The Hand of Peril.djvu/253



tableau which must have succeeded that unexpected speech was lost to Kestner. He was conscious only of the sudden silence, prolonging itself until it became epochal. And that silence, to the listener, was doubly hard to bear, for he had no means of determining its cause and no way of relieving its tension.

Then, almost with relief, came the sound of a woman's voice, tense, reed-like, touched with both defiance and determination. And the moment he heard that voice, Kestner knew it was Maura Lambert speaking.

"Where is Carlesi?"

It was not merely a question. It was a declaration, an exaction, a challenge. It came as an ultimatum that was not to be ignored. It was apparently directed at Lambert, who required several moments' time before he could remarshal his forces against it. Kestner was further conscious of the fact that the man in the next room had not resumed his work at the press. He could hear the snap of the switch as the light was turned out, and he knew that Carlesi himself was becoming an interested spectator of that encounter. But Kestner had not time to dwell on these discoveries.

"What are you doing here?"

It was Lambert's voice that spoke. In that voice