She rose to her feet, and, in order to rearrange her scarf, which had fallen a little on one side, she set Nagaski on the ground. Very slowly, he made his way towards me, sniffing all the time. A few feet from the curtain he stopped. His hair stiffened. His little, beady eyes were like black diamonds. He barked angrily.
"Nagaski!" his mistress called.
He did not move. Neither dared I, for he was within a few feet of me.
Adèle came across the room.
"Have you any secrets behind that curtain, Sir Gilbert?" she asked.
"A cat most likely," he answered nervously. "Let me pick him up for you."
Adèle stooped down, but he eluded her. With a low growl he sprang through the opening, and fastened his teeth in my trousers. Adèle turned to my cousin and her face was as pale as death.
"There was only one person in the world," she said, "to whom Nagaski used to behave like that. Sir Gilbert! what is there behind that curtain? I insist upon knowing. If there have been listeners to our conversation, it will cost me my life."
I stepped out. It seemed to me that concealment was no longer possible. She staged at me in bewilderment. I had forgotten my beard, my spectacles and shabby clothes. She did not recognize me!
"Has this person been here all the time? Is this a trap?" she demanded, turning to my cousin with flashing eyes.
I stepped forward.