“Miss Dunois iss here?” he enquired politely. “I haff a message——”
“What is your name?”
“Excuse, please. My name iss not personally known to Miss Dunois——”
“Then what is your business with Miss Dunois?”
“Excuse, please. It iss of a delicacy—of a nature quite private, iff you please.”
Barres inspected him in hostile silence for a moment, then came to a swift conclusion.
“Very well. Step inside,” he said briefly.
“I thank you, I will wait here——”
“Step inside!” snapped Barres.
Startled into silence, the man only blinked at him. Under the other’s searching, suspicious gaze, the small, pig-like eyes were now shifting uneasily; then, as Barres took an abrupt step forward, the man shrank away and stammered out something about a letter which he was to deliver to Miss Dunois in private.