I had a qualm and nearly gave the show away when I saw the trouble and anxiety in her dear pale face; but I checked the impulse, knowing how delighted she would be the instant she recognized me, and what laughs we should have over it together in the delicious afterwards.
She was intensely puzzled by the odd figure I cut, but didn't spot the disguise, although she stared hard enough to see right through me. Her nervousness at such an unexpected visitor helped to blind her sharp eyes.
She paused on the threshold with a start and a frown of concern and perplexity. "You wish to see me, sir? I could not quite catch your name from the servant," she said in German.
"Van Heerenveen is my name, madam," I replied. I was chiefly afraid that my voice would betray me; so I spoke slowly, made a big mouthful of the name, deepened my tone and put a little husk into it, talked out of the side of my mouth, and rolled out in deliberate guttural gibberish what I intended her to take for a question in Dutch.
"I do not speak Dutch, sir; only English, German, and French."
I nodded slowly and made a little play with the loose finger-tips of my ridiculous gloves. "Will you not sit down, if you please?" I said in German. "Do not be alarmed, I beg you. There is no need, if you are Miss Nessa Caldicott."
She had been holding the door half open and now closed it and sat in the chair I had placed in readiness, and I sat on the opposite side of the room at a safe distance.
"I am Miss Caldicott, of course."
"It is necessary for me to be quite sure of that, madam. Have I your permission to ask you a few questions?" The voice had passed muster all right, and, as she was close to the door and I so far away, her anxiety soon gave way to curiosity. She was absolutely puzzled.
"Certainly, sir."