Her voice was different.
"Come and sit down here," she said, pointing to a sofa by her side.
He obeyed her, thoroughly amazed. She leaned back amongst the cushions
and looked at him thoughtfully.
"How is it that you--an Englishman--speak French so well?" she asked.
"I lived in Paris for some years," he answered.
"Indeed! And yet you returned to--Norfolk, is it?"
He bowed.
"It is true, Madame!" he admitted.
"How droll!" she murmured. "Miss Poynton--she is an old friend of
yours?"
"I am very anxious to see her, Madame!"
"Why?"
He hesitated. After all, his was no secret mission.
"I have reason to believe," he said, "that a mistake has been made in
the identity of the body found in the Seine and supposed to be her
brother's."
She gave a little start. It seemed to him that from that moment she
regarded him with more interest.
"But that, Monsieur," she said, "is not possible."
"Why not?"
She did not answer him for a moment. Instead she rang a bell.
A servant appeared almost immediately.
"Request Monsieur le Marquis to step this way immediately he returns,"
she ordered.
The man bowed and withdrew.
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