"How d'ye do, Mrs.Bowker ?" said he with respectful deference.

What he would have thought was the impossible had come to pass.

He was glad to see her.
"She'll put an end to this nonsense--this nightmare," said he to himself.
Madam Bowker had Williams, the butler, and a maid-servant in her train.
She halted, gazed round the room; she pointed with the staff to the floor a few feet from the window and a little back.

"Place my chair there," commanded she.
The butler and the maid hastened to move a large carved and gilded chair to the indicated spot.

Madam Bowker seated herself with much ceremony.
"Now!" said she.