"
"Ah," muttered the man, lowering his eyes in unmistakable shame--"yes,
yes, of course. You are new here?"
"Yes, sir. Shall I prepare your bath?"
"Yes, please. This is Wednesday morning?"
"Wednesday morning, sir; yes."
"Of course--it is Wednesday. You said your name was?"
"Lucas, sir," reiterated Soames, and, crossing the fantastic apartment,
he entered the bathroom beyond.
This contained the most modern appointments and was on an altogether
more luxurious scale than that attached to his own quarters. He noted,
without drawing any deduction from the circumstance, that the fittings
were of American manufacture. Here, as in the outer room, there was no
window; an electric light hung from the center of the ceiling. Soames
busied himself in filling the bath, and laying out the towels upon the
rack.
"Fairly warm, sir?" he asked.
"Not too warm, thank you," replied the other, now stumbling out of bed
and falling into the armchair--"not too warm."
"If you will take your bath, sir," said Soames, returning to the outer
room, "I will brush your clothes and be ready to shave you."
"Yes, yes," said the man, rubbing his hands over his face wearily. "You
are new here?"
Soames, who was becoming used to answering this question, answered it
once more without irritation.
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