By a power more subtle and effective
than any at his command, Loder had been prepared for his
coming--unconsciously ready with an acquiescence before
his appeal had been made. It was the fruit of this preparation,
the inevitable outcome of it, that strengthened his step and
steadied his hand as he mounted the steps and opened the hall
door of Chilcote's house on that eventful afternoon.
The, dignity, the air of quiet solidity, impressed him as it
never failed to do, as he crossed the large hall and ascended
the stairs--the same stairs that he had passed down almost as
an outcast not so many hours before. He was filled with the
sense of things regained; belief in his own star lifted him as
it had done a hundred times before in these same surroundings.
He quickened his steps as the sensation came to him. Then,
reaching the head of the stairs, he turned directly towards
Eve's sitting-room, and, gaining the door, knocked. The
strength of his eagerness, the quick beating of his pulse as
he waited for a response, surprised him.
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