I can assure you that I am as much taken aback by M.de Rosny's absence as you are.

For the present, we are close to my mother's lodging, and--' 'I know nothing of your mother!' she exclaimed passionately, her voice raised.

'You have enticed me hither by false pretences, sir, and I will endure it no longer.

I will--' 'What you will do, I do not know then, mademoiselle,' I replied, quite at my wits' end; for what with the rain and the darkness, the unknown streets--in which our tarrying might at any moment collect a crowd--and this stubborn girl's opposition, I knew not whither to turn.

'For my part I can suggest nothing else.