"If you must go!" He scarcely touched her hand, anxious only to get away.

And then the door opened and a man of somewhat remarkable appearance entered the room with the air of a privileged person.

He was oddly dressed, with little regard to the fashion of the moment.

His black coat was cut after the mode of a past generation, his collar was of the type affected by Gladstone and his fellow-statesmen, his black bow was arranged with studied negligence and he showed more frilled white shirt-front than is usual in the daytime.

His silk hat was glossy but broad-brimmed; his masses of gray hair, brushed back from a high, broad forehead, gave him almost a patriarchal aspect.