He went to the door of the hut. Esmeralda was seated on a log of wood mending a stocking. He laid his hand upon her shoulder, and looked at her with a strange smile.
“Come inside with me, Ralda,” he said. She rose at once, and he took her hand and led her into the hut.
“Allow me to introduce you, Mr. Pinchook,” he said in his slow and languid way, “to Miss Chetwynde.”
[CHAPTER VI.]
Mr. Pinchook gave a little start of surprise, then got up and bowed.
Esmeralda’s beauty took him by surprise. He had expected to see—well, if he had been asked what he had expected to see, he would have found it difficult to answer: something rough and uncouth, and, of course, quite uncultivated. Now Esmeralda, though she wore a short skirt with a blue blouse, and was without a hat, did not look uncouth, however uncultivated she may have been.
With her stocking in her hand, she stood upright as a dart, and looked at the dry little lawyer in her direct fashion.
“Who is this, Varley?” she asked, with her usual fearlessness.
“This gentleman is Mr. Pinchook,” said Varley; “he is a lawyer, and he has come from London on business connected with you; in fact, he has come to look for you.”