Twenty minutes later, shaved and dressed, he descended upon his guest, who sat in torment, on a hall-tree shelf, in Stygian darkness.
"How do you do?" said Jarvis, stiffly. "Sorry to keep you waiting in this hole of Calcutta."
"How are you, Jocelyn?" said Strong, cordially. "Your wife gave me your address, and I thought you might save me from a deadly evening by dining with me at Claremont."
"Thank you, I have dined," replied Jarvis.
"So early? Well, come with me while I get a bite somewhere, and we will go to a show, or hear some music."
"Much obliged. I am engaged for the evening."
"Oh, that's a pity. Your wife told me you were a friendless stranger in a foreign land, so I lost no time in coming to look you up."
"Very kind of you."
"I had a charming weekend in the country. We missed you very much."
"Indeed?"