"Where the devil are you! Can't you hear the door bell?"
Soames did not reveal himself; and to the ringing of the bell was added
the unmistakable rattling of a letter-box.
"Soames!" Leroux put down his pen and stood up. "Damn it! he's out! I
have no memory!"
He retied the girdle of his dressing-gown, which had become unfastened,
and opened the study door. Opposite, across the entrance lobby, was
the outer door; and in the light from the lobby lamp he perceived two
laughing eyes peering in under the upraised flap of the letter-box. The
ringing ceased.
"Are you VERY angry with me for interrupting you?" cried a girl's voice.
"My dear Miss Cumberly!" said Leroux without irritation; "on the
contrary--er--I am delighted to see you--or rather to hear you. There is
nobody at home, you know."...
"I DO know," replied the girl firmly, "and I know something else, also.
Father assures me that you simply STARVE yourself when Mrs. Leroux is
away! So I have brought down an omelette!"
"Omelette!" muttered Leroux, advancing toward the door; "you
have--er--brought an omelette! I understand--yes; you have brought an
omelette? Er--that is very good of you."
He hesitated when about to open the outer door, raising his hands to his
dishevelled hair and unshaven chin.
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