But he did not rise from the table, as Sylvia expected him to do.

"What can I do for you ?" he said.

"I am at your service," and again he stared with insistent curiosity at the couple before him, at the well-dressed young Englishwoman and at her French companion.
The Count explained at some length why they had come.
And then at last the Commissioner of Police got up.
"Madame has now been at Lacville three weeks ?"--and he quickly made a note of the fact on a little tablet he held in his hand.

"And her friend, a Polish lady named Wolsky, has left Lacville rather suddenly?
Madame has, however, received a letter from her friend explaining that she had to leave unexpectedly ?" "No," said Sylvia, quickly, "the letter was not sent to me; it was left by my friend in her bed-room at the Pension Malfait.

You see, the strange thing, Monsieur, is that Madame Wolsky left all her luggage.