A Shadowed Love by Fred M. White

The weight of the family secrets had pressed Martlett down so close to his desk that he had not looked up from it for the last three hours. So absorbed was he in a mass of figures that he had quite forgotten that Greigstein, otherwise Von Wrangel, had telegraphed asking for an interview at four o'clock, which had made up for the disappointment of an unsuccessful search after the erratic German on the day before. The stuffy atmosphere of the room was rendered none the less so by the presence of an oil lamp on the lawyer's desk. Even the most brilliant summer light seemed to get discouraged and refused to show in these dingy chambers after mid-day.

A clerk in rusty black stole in presently and laid a card on Martlett's table. He nodded gravely, and immediately Greigstein came in. He was in boisterous spirits and brought a refreshing atmosphere into that sad and stuffy room.