"A disaster," said Louise. "Always a disaster—to Monsieur the Warden. Madame understands?"
Louise gazed at Mrs. Potten as if she hoped that that lady had information to give her. But Mrs. Potten had none. She was merely thinking deeply.
"Well," she said, rising, "I suppose most old houses pretend to have ghosts. We have one at Potten End, but I have never seen it myself, and, as far as I know, it does no harm and no good. But Madame didn't see the ghost you speak of?" and here Mrs. Potten smiled a little satirically.
"It was Miss Scott," said Louise, darkly.
"Oh!" said Mrs. Potten, with a short laugh. "Oh, well!" and she came towards the maid with the card in her hand. "Now, will you be good enough to give this to Madame the moment that she returns and say that it is 'Urgent,' d'une importance extrème."
"Well," said Mrs. Potten to herself, as she walked through the court and gained the street, "and I should think it was a disaster for a quiet, respectable Warden of an Oxford college to marry a person of the Scott type."
As to Louise, when she had closed the front door on Mrs. Potten's retreating figure, she gazed hard at the card in her hand. The writing was as follows:—
"Dear Lena,
"Can Miss Scott come to see me this afternoon without fail? Very kindly allow her to come early.
"M. P."