"Hush!—hush!" he said again, "hush—who is it? I must be very careful now!—Oh, very!"
The footstep paused at his door, and then he heard it in the next room, and Mrs. Hardman advancing to the folding doors, said, in the blandest of accents—
"Are you awake, sir, if you please?"
Todd at once assumed the tone in which he had formerly addressed her, and replied—
"Yes, madam, yes. I am awake!"
"And how do you feel now, sir, if you please?"
"Oh, a great deal better, ma'am, a great deal better. Indeed, I feel quite refreshed. I will come out directly, my dear madam. Pray have the goodness to take this guinea. I shall want a cup of tea at times, and I think I could take a cup now, my dear madam. You can get it out of that, and keep the change, you know, till I want something else."
"Oh, really, sir," said Mrs. Hardman, as she put her hand through a small opening of one of the folding doors and took the guinea. "It is quite delightful to have so pleasant a lodger as yourself—oh, quite.—I will get the tea directly, my dear sir, and pray make yourself quite at home, if you please."
"Yes, ma'am, I will—I will."
"Do, sir. I should be really unhappy now, if I did not think you were comfortable."