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He smiled warmly. T shall be in Bristol until Friday—I’m giving a series of lectures. Here’s my number in case you need me.’ He turned at the door, eyes twinkling, 'I'll leave everything in your capable hands, Laura. I’m sure you won’t be able to complain about your working conditions now?’
    Laura smiled her thanks, sitting for a while at her desk after he had gone. He had positioned it so that as she worked she could admire the view from the window. How thoughtful, thought Laura happily. Now I shall be able to watch the changing shades of autumn. And later the frosts and snows.
    Already the leaves were turning yellow. Before long they would fall and the lawns would be carpeted in brown and gold. As she watched a gust of wind enticed a handful of leaves from the trees and they danced merrily across the grass before being caught in a yew hedge a few yards further on.
    Turning her attention back to her typewriter, Laura forced herself to concentrate on the task of finishing Brad’s book. Much as she loved the great outdoors work had to come first.
    It seemed no time at all before Mrs. Jennings came in with her mid-morning coffee and by lunch time she had finished one chapter and was half way through the second. As on the previous occasion when Brad was out Laura lunched with Mrs. Jennings, but hurried back to her office immediately afterwards as she wanted to finish the book and make a start on the articles.
    She was able to work much quicker with her new typewriter and by Tuesday evening all the. typing was done. On Wednesday she settled down to the enormous task of sorting out the files, but this, too, proved easier than she had at first felt and by mid-morning on Thursday the work was finished. She was left wondering how to occupy herself for the rest of the week.
    When she mentioned her dilemma to Mrs. Jennings she was told, ‘Take the time off, love. Mr. Stuart can’t tell you off for not working if there’s nothing to do. Why don’t you go for a walk? It's a lovely afternoon.’
    'Oh, I couldn’t.’ Laura looked horrified. ‘I mean, someone might telephone or Mr. Stuart might ring, then what would he say if I wasn’t here to take a message? I couldn’t possibly leave the house .'
    ‘As you like,’ retorted Mrs. Jennings, looking as if she thought Laura was silly not to take advantage of the situation. ‘Anyway, it’s my afternoon off, so you’ll have the house to yourself—more or less.’
    Laura guessed that she was referring to Helen and after the housekeeper had left could not help but wonder about the woman who confined herself to one room. Why did she shut herself away so completely from the rest of the household? Why had Brad never mentioned his sister? It was a strange state of affairs and the more Laura considered it the more curious she became.
    She tried to read, but it was difficult to forget that the only other person in the house was someone she had never met, nor was likely to meet by the look of things. Laura had been unable to pluck up courage to ask Brad about his sister and it was obvious that he was not going to volunteer any information. With sudden determination she decided to find out for herself.
    At the top of the staircase she paused. Her own room lay to the right, but if the face she had seen at the window did belong to Helen it would mean that her room was somewhere along the corridor on her left, a part of die house she had never seen before.
    There was no response from the first three rooms and when Laura opened the doors she saw that the furniture was shrouded in dust sheets. Behind the fourth door Laura thought she heard a noise, although there was no reply to her knock. After a few seconds she knocked again, then gently opened the door.
    The room was exquisitely furnished in shades of pink and grey. For a moment Laura thought that she had been mistaken, that the room was empty. Then, in the shadows by the window, where a blind had been drawn to shut out the