'My!' said this damsel, when she saw him, 'you are a nice young man
coming home at this hour--twelve o'clock. See?' and, as a proof of
her assertion, she pointed to the clock.
'Were you waiting up for me, dear?' asked Vandeloup, audaciously.
'Not I,' retorted Miss Twexby, tossing her curl-papers; 'I've been
attending to par's business; but, oh, gracious!' with a sudden
recollection of her head-gear, 'you've seen me in undress.'
'And you look more charming than ever,' finished Vandeloup, as he
took his bedroom candle from her. 'I will see you in the morning. My
friend still asleep, I suppose?'
'I'm sure I don't know. I haven't seen him all the evening,' replied
Miss Twexby, tossing her head, 'now, go away. You're a naughty,
wicked, deceitful thing. I declare I'm quite afraid of you.'
'There's no need, I assure you,' replied Vandeloup, in a slightly
sarcastic voice, as he surveyed the plain-looking woman before him;
'you are quite safe from me.'
He left the bar, whistling an air, while the fair Martha returned to
her accounts, and wondered indignantly whether his last remark was a
compliment or otherwise.
The conclusion she came to was that it was otherwise, and she
retired to bed in a very wrathful frame of mind.
CHAPTER XIV
A MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE
Madame Midas, as may be easily guessed, did not pass a very pleasant
night after the encounter with Villiers.
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