A bell rang loudly upstairs.

But instead of the wealth which the visitor expected, he found Lembke in a very little side-room, which had a dark and dilapidated appearance, partitioned into two by a large dark green curtain, and furnished with very old though comfortable furniture, with dark green blinds on high narrow windows.

Von Lembke lodged in the house of a very distant relation, a general who was his patron.

He met his visitor cordially, was serious and exquisitely polite.

They talked of literature, too, but kept within the bounds of decorum.