'
'Is that the lawyer, Madame?' asked Vandeloup.
'Yes,' she replied, quietly, 'he is a most delightful man.'
'So I have heard,' answered Vandeloup, nonchalantly, 'and he had
something to do with a former owner of this house, I think.'
'Oh, don't talk of that,' said Mrs Villiers, nervously; 'the first
time I took the house, I heard all about the Hansom Cab murder.'
'Why, Madame, you are not nervous,' said Kitty, gaily.
'No, my dear,' replied the elder, quietly, 'but I must confess that
for some reason or another I have been a little upset since coming
here; I don't like being alone.'
'You shall never be that,' said Kitty, fondly nestling to her.
'Thank you, puss,' said Madame, tapping her cheek; 'but I am
nervous,' she said, rapidly; 'at night especially. Sometimes I have
to get Selina to come into my room and stay all night.'
'Madame Midas nervous,' thought Vandeloup to himself; 'then I can
guess the reason; she is afraid of her husband coming back to her.'
Just at this moment the servant announced Mr Calton, and he entered,
with his sharp, incisive face, looking clever and keen.
'I must apologise for being late, Mrs Villiers,' he said, shaking
hands with his hostess; 'but business, you know, the pleasure of
business.'
'Now,' said Madame, quickly, 'I hope you have come to the business
of pleasure.'
'Very epigrammatic, my dear lady,' said Calton, in his high, clear
voice; 'pray introduce me.
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