Page:The Mystery of Madeline Le Blanc (1900).djvu/88

88 "I have come all the way from Paris today," she began. "I ran here from the Hôtel de Ville where the coach stopped. It seemed as though I could not get here soon enough. I should have flown, if I had had wings. You know I have been living with my aunt since I went away? She is not really my aunt, but then—"

"Yes, we know," said Monsieur, eagerly, "Joseph told us where you were staying."

"Ah! Joseph, yes—where is he?" she asked, staring about, as if she thought that he was in hiding.

"At home, of course," answered Monsieur. "What were you going to tell us?"

Tossing her hat to the table, opening her dress at the throat and beginning to fan herself, she ignored Monsieur's question, and said: "Joseph—he will be glad to see me and hear what I will say. Could he be sent for?"

A pause.

"You can see him to-morrow."

"Yes, to-morrow; but he should know to-night. If he died meanwhile, he would remain in ignorance."

"What are you talking about, child?"