He was about to stammer an excuse and fly, when one of the gentlewomen turned her eye on him for a moment, and so he sat down.

The gentlewomen then resumed their conversation.

He glanced cautiously about him.

Elm-trees, firmly rooted in a border of Indian matting, grew round all the walls in exotic profusion, and their topmost branches splashed over on to the ceiling.

A card on the trunk of a tree, announcing curtly, "Dogs not allowed," seemed to enhearten him.