Man and Maid

* * * * *

A week has passed--.

Alathea came on Thursday--I was sickeningly nervous on Thursday morning.

I resented it extremely. As yet the only advance I have made is that I

can control most of the outward demonstrations of my perturbations, but

not the sensations themselves. I was sitting in my chair quite still

when the door opened, and in she came--Just the scrap of a creature in

dead black. Although there was no crepe, one could see that the garments

were French trappings of woe, that is, she had a veil hanging from her

simple small hat. I felt that she had had to buy these things for the

funeral, and probably could not afford a second set of more dowdy ones

for her working clothes, so that there was that indescribable air of

elegance about her appearance which had shown in the Bois that Sunday.

The black was supremely becoming to her transparent white skin, and

seemed to set off the bright bronze brown of her hair--the rebellious

little curls had slipped out beside her ears, but the yellow horn

spectacles were as uncompromising as ever--I could not see whether her

eyes were sad or no--her mouth was firm as usual.

"I want to tell you of my sympathy," I said immediately--"I was so sorry

not to know your address that I might have expressed it to you before--I

would have wished to send you some flowers."

"Thank you," was all she answered--but her voice trembled a little.

"It was so stupid of me not to have asked you for your address

before--you must have thought it was so careless and unsympathetic."

"Oh! no"--.

"Won't you give it to me now that I may know in the future?"

"We are going to move--It would be useless--it is not decided where we

go yet."

I knew I dared not insist.

"Is there some place where I could be certain of a message reaching you

then? because I would have asked you to come to the flat to-day and not

out here if I could have found you."

She was silent for a moment. I could see she was in a corner--I felt an

awful brute but I had said it all quite naturally as any employer would

who was quite unaware that there could be any reluctance to give the

information, and I felt it was better to continue in this strain not to

render her suspicious.

After a second or two she gave the number of a stationer's shop in the

Avenue Mosart--.