‘Mrs. Montmorency?’ he said, for he had got the name by heart.
The woman looked at him in surprise, and answered with a strong French accent.
‘Madame has only just come in, and you cannot see her to-night.’
‘I must see her,’ returned the clergyman, entering the hall. ‘It is a matter of very important business.’
‘But it is so late. To-morrow, monsieur?’
‘To-morrow I am leaving London. I must see her at once.’
Seeing his persistence, and observing that he had the manners of a gentleman, the woman yielded.
‘If you will step this way, I will tell madame, but I am afraid she will not see you.’
So saying she led the way into a room on the ground floor, furnished splendidly as a kind of study, and communicating with a small dining room, which in its turn led to a large conservatory.
‘Your name, monsieur, if you please?’ said the woman.