We must have everything ready for him.

Now, just sit down at once, and ask Harold to come at nine o'clock, and I shall do the same to Charles." The two invitations were dispatched, received and accepted.

Harold was already a confidant, and he understood that this was some further development of the plot.

As to Charles, he was so accustomed to feminine eccentricity, in the person of his aunt, that the only thing which could surprise him would be a rigid observance of etiquette.

At nine o'clock they entered the dining-room of Number 2, to find the master of the house absent, a red-shaded lamp, a snowy cloth, a pleasant little feast, and the two whom they would have chosen, as their companions.