I rang again.
They opened at last.

A bonne in a smart cap stood before me.
"May I see Madame Beck ?" I inquired.
I believe if I had spoken French she would not have admitted me; but, as I spoke English, she concluded I was a foreign teacher come on business connected with the pensionnat, and, even at that late hour, she let me in, without a word of reluctance, or a moment of hesitation.
The next moment I sat in a cold, glittering salon, with porcelain stove, unlit, and gilded ornaments, and polished floor.

A pendule on the mantel-piece struck nine o'clock.
A quarter of an hour passed.

How fast beat every pulse in my frame! How I turned cold and hot by turns! I sat with my eyes fixed on the door--a great white folding-door, with gilt mouldings: I watched to see a leaf move and open.

All had been quiet: not a mouse had stirred; the white doors were closed and motionless.
"You ayre Engliss ?" said a voice at my elbow.