But this time Emmeline begged her to go alone, and Louise seemed quite satisfied with the arrangement.
Early in the afternoon, as Mrs.Mumford was making ready to go out, the servant announced to her that a gentleman had called to see Miss Derrick; on learning that Miss Derrick was away, he had asked sundry questions, and ended by requesting an interview with Mrs.Mumford.
His name was Cobb.
'Show him into the drawing-room,' said Emmeline, a trifle agitated.
'I will be down in a few moments.' Beset by anxious anticipations, she entered the room, and saw before her a figure not wholly unlike what she had imagined: a wiry, resolute-looking man, with knitted brows, lips close-set, and heavy feet firmly planted on the carpet.

He was respectably dressed, but nothing more, and in his large bare hands held a brown hat marked with a grease spot.

One would have judged him a skilled mechanic.
When he began to speak, his blunt but civil phrases were in keeping with this impression.

He had not the tone of an educated man, yet committed no vulgar errors.
'My name is Cobb.

I must beg your pardon for troubling you.