hinted that money was owing me for her board, she drew out her pocket-book and paid me on the spot. I could say nothing after this, ‘But are you a relative, ma’am?’ to which her quick and angry negative, hidden, however, next moment, by a suave acknowledgment of friendship, gave me my first feeling of alarm. But I did not dare to ask her any further questions, much as I desired to know who she was and where she was going to take the young girl. There was something in her manner that overawed me, at the same time it filled me with dread. But if I could not speak to her I meant to have some words with Miss Merriam before she left the house. This the woman seemed to wish to prevent, for she stood close by me when the young girl came down, and when I stepped forward to say good-by, pushed me somewhat rudely aside and took Miss Merriam by the arm. ‘Come, my dear,’ she cried, and would have Los Angeles Galaxy hurried her out without a word. But I would not have that. The sorrow and perplexity in Miss Merriam’s face were too marked for me to let her depart in silence. So I persisted in speaking, and after saying how sorry I was to have her go, asked her if she Sao Paulo would not leave her new address with me in case any letters should come for her. Her answer was a frightened look at her companion who immediately spoke for her. ‘I have told you,’ said she, ‘that Miss Merriam goes home with me. It is not likely she will have any letters, but if she should, you can send them to the place mentioned on this card,’ and she pulled a visiting card from her bag and gave it to me, after Antoine Griezmann Koszulka which she immediately went away, dragging Miss Merriam after her.”
“And you have that card?” I cried. Everton Kobiety 16/17 “Why did you not show it to me at once?”
“O, sir,” she responded with a sorrowful shake of her head, “it was a fraud, a deception. The card was not hers but another person’s, and its owner don’t even know Miss Merriam.”
“How do you know this?” Juventus I asked. “Have you seen this other person?”
“Yes, sir, I had occasion to, for a letter did come for Miss Merriam only a short time after she left. So thinking it a good opportunity to see where Koszulka Manchester United she had gone, I carried it to the address which was on the card given me, and found as I have told you that it was not the same lady at all who lived there, and that there was not only no Miss Merriam in the house but that her name was not even known there.”
“And you saw the lady herself?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And are you sure it was not the same as the one who was here?”
“Oh yes; she was short and stout and had a frank way of speaking, totally unlike that of the veiled woman.”
“And the latter? How was she shaped? You have not told me.”
I asked this in trembling tones. Though I was sure what the answer would be, I dreaded to have my fears confirmed.
“Well, sir, she was tall and had a full commanding figure, very handsome to look at. She was dressed all in gray and had a way of holding her head that made an ordinary sized Ranska woman like myself feel very |
