So wholly unexpected was this apparition that I started back.
"Can I show you anything, sir?" inquired the new arrival, with a second slight inclination of the head.
I looked at him for a moment in silence. Then:
"I thought I saw a lady of my acquaintance here a moment ago," I said. "Was I mistaken?"
"Quite mistaken, sir," replied the shopman, raising his black eyebrows ever so slightly; "a mistake possibly due to a reflection in the window. Will you take a look around now that you are here?"
"Thank you," I replied, staring him hard in the face; "at some other time."
I turned and quitted the shop abruptly. Either I was mad, or Kâramanèh was concealed somewhere therein.
However, realizing my helplessness in the matter, I contented myself with making a mental note of the name which appeared above the establishment—J. Salaman—and walked on, my mind in a chaotic condition and my heart beating with unusual rapidity.