Hearing the message, Mrs. Callender rose immediately.
“It is enough for to-day that we understand each other,” she said. “Have you any engagement to-morrow, after the hours of business?”
“None.”
She pointed to her card on the writing-table. “Will you come to me to-morrow evening at that address? I am like the gentleman who has just called; I, too, have my reason for wishing to see you.”
He gladly accepted the invitation. Mrs. Callender stopped him as he opened the door for her.
“Shall I offend you,” she said, “if I ask a strange question before I go? I have a better motive, mind, than mere curiosity. Are you married?”
“No.”
“Forgive me again,” she resumed. “At my age, you cannot possibly misunderstand me; and yet—”
She hesitated. Mr. Lismore tried to give her confidence. “Pray don’t stand on ceremony, Mrs. Callender. Nothing that you can ask me need be prefaced by an apology.”
Thus encouraged, she ventured to proceed.