"A gentleman to see the gnädige Frau," she said. "Shall I show him in?"
Nora took the card. She looked at it a long time. Even in the half-darkness her pallor was so intense that it caught Wolff's attention. He saw her stretch out her hand blindly as though seeking support.
"What is it? What is the matter?" he asked.
She lifted her eyes to his, staringly, stupidly. He felt that she hardly saw him.
"Nothing—it is an old friend—from England."
The sound of her own voice seemed to bring her to her senses. She handed him the card, and her manner from stunned bewilderment changed to something that was intensely defiant. There was a moment's silence. Then Arnim turned to the waiting servant.
"Show him in here," he ordered.
"Wolff—how do you know I wish to see him?"
"An old friend—who has come so far to see you? You surely cannot do otherwise. Besides, why should you not want to see him?"
He looked at her in steady surprise, so that the suspicion which for one moment had flashed up in her mind died down as quickly as it had come. He did not know—he could not know. But the consciousness of coming disaster weighed upon her like a crushing burden.