Cora looked at him a little curiously.
'We had better speak to mamma, I think,' she said; 'perhaps we can come with you, Clare.'
The two girls left the room, and Petrovitch, for once, did not take up a book, but stood rapt in thought through the ten minutes that passed before the door opened again.
Clare came in alone. She was still dressed in black, of course, and had a little close crape bonnet that seemed to enhance the prettiness of the face it framed.
'I am quite ready,' she said. 'Mrs Quaid and Cora cannot come. They have some people coming to lunch, and I am not sorry, for poor Mrs Hatfield ought not to be bothered by strangers.'
'Come, then,' he said, and they went out together. As soon as they were outside he offered her his arm, as a matter of course, and she took it.
'How did you know her address?' asked Clare, as they walked along.
'Ah! that involves explanations,' he answered; 'to begin with, I must tell you that I met Count Litvinoff two days ago. It was from him I had Mrs Hatfield's address.'
'I remember he and poor Hatfield used to be friends.'
'He gave me the address for a special reason and for a special purpose. He has married Alice Hatfield, and he wished to let her people know.'