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the meal and she had to admit, to herself only, that it was a superlative example of how to charm a wary bird, with herself as the wariest bird ever hatched! When the meal was finished, he helped her clear away the dishes, accepted her refusal to allow him to dry while she washed them and went biddably away.
    It was like being braced against a shove which never came. She felt off balance and extremely suspicious. Schyler was trying a new tack, that much was clear. It was up to her to show him that this tack wasn't going to work any better than the others had. She'd also have to talk to the landlord about getting a peephole installed in the door. No more opening the door without knowing who was on the other side!
    The next morning Keri rose early. She stood for a long time, contemplating her wardrobe. After much deliberation she chose a trimly tailored olive green suit which had the interesting effect of making her look as though she might be in the first stages of jaundice. It also broadened her hips and shoulders just enough to destroy the clean lines of her normal figure. The whole effect, when she had completed her makeup and hairdo, was exquisitely subtle. There was not one thing glaringly amiss, but the totality left her colorless and drab. She placed her glasses firmly on her nose and smiled primly at herself in the mirror. Staid, efficient, and depressingly dull... exactly what she had striven to achieve.
    In a defiant freakish fit of humor, she dabbed on her favorite perfume, Charme, a fragrance so at variance with her current appearance that it signified for her a final, mocking thumb of the nose. She gathered her purse, stenographic notebook, and a supply of freshly sharpened pencils and locked the door of her apartment behind her.
    There was no one in the elevator going down, for which she was grateful. She had no desire to have to explain her appearance to someone who knew her well in her normal mode of dress. When put into words, the whole idea had a tendency to sound both conceited and a trifle paranoid.
    Promptly at 8:15 Dain and the car arrived at the front door of her apartment building. The uniformed chauffeur hastened around to open the back door and Keri was ceremoniously assisted inside. When she had settled herself comfortably, Dain quietly told the chauffeur to drive on, then pressed the button which closed the sliding glass partition between the driver's compartment and the back seat. He turned his attention to Keri.
    "Good morning, Miss Dalton," he said conventionally.
    'I'm glad to see that punctuality is one of your virtues after all."
    Keri's lips compressed slightly but she merely replied, "Good morning, Mr. Randolph," sternly repressing the impulse to snap back at him. A colorless secretary did not make cutting remarks to her employer.
    She could feel him watching her, waiting for her to rise to his provocation, but she contemplated the passing scenery with perfect equanimity. It was a mere pinprick, after all, easily ignored. She felt unwontedly triumphant.
    Dain studied the clean line of her profile. In the shaded light of the car the sallowness of her complexion lost its force and he could concentrate on the bone structure without the distraction of color tones. The chin was sweetly curved, if a trifle obstinate, and the nose, where it was not weighted down by those unattractive spectacles, was classically modeled. The lips were fuller than they looked full face, especially the lower one, and Dain wondered how she had achieved that thinning effect. It must have to do with the color of the lipstick she used, he finally decided.
    Looking at her from the side, the shielding effect of the heavy glasses was diminished and he became aware of the dark length of her eyelashes and the high cheekbones. With a sudden shock he realized that, in profile, she was beautiful. He sucked in air sharply and she turned to look at him curiously.
    Sitting so close to her he realized several other things as well. At