There was a knock at the door. The doctor’s voice outside politely reminded her that it was six o’clock.
She opened the door, and stopped him on his way downstairs.
“What time is the train due to-night?” she asked, in a whisper.
“At ten,” answered the doctor, in a voice which all the world might hear, and welcome.
“What room is Mr. Armadale to have when he comes?”
“What room would you like him to have?”
“Number Four.”
The doctor kept up appearances to the very last.
“Number Four let it be,” he said, graciously. “Provided, of course, that Number Four is unoccupied at the time.”