"Yes, chief."
"How far have you got with him?"
"Not very. He won't speak a word. I told him that, by a new regulation, foreigners were 'bliged to make a declaration at the Prefecture as to the object and the probable length of their stay in Paris; and I brought him here, to your secretary's office."
"I will question him."
But, at that moment, an office-messenger appeared:
"There's a lady asking to see you at once, chief."
"Have you her card?"
"Here, chief."
"Mrs. Kesselbach! Show her in."
He walked across the room to receive the young widow at the door and begged her to take a seat. She still wore the same disconsolate look, the same appearance of illness and that air of extreme lassitude which revealed the distress of her life.