I could see that Fred was afire with curiosity, but guessed that Will would agree with me.

However, the point was settled for us by the arrival of her maid, who smiled with unusual condescension and produced from a basket an assortment of drinks, nuts, cigarettes and sandwiches.

She spread them on the table and went away again.
We sat and smoked for an hour after that, imagining every moment that Lady Saffren Waldon would be coming.

Whenever we yawned in chorus and rose to go upstairs, a footstep seemed to herald her arrival.

To have passed her on the stairs would have been too awkward to be amusing.
At last we really made up our minds to go to bed; and then she really came, appearing at the bend in the stairs just as I set my foot on the lower step, so we trooped back to our chairs by the window.