It had been her first ray of hope in two weeks
and she felt faint and sick under the reaction.
She found a coupe in Broadway and was driven to her lodgings. The
maid was waiting for her in the doorway, evidently perturbed.
"There's a strange gentleman upstairs in the parlor, ma'am," she
said. "Not Mr. Lacey. I didn't want to let him in but he would. He
said--"
She thrust the girl aside and ran up the steps. But when she burst
into the parlor the man waiting for her was Ralph Holt.
She dropped into a chair and began to cry hysterically. He had dealt
with her in that state before, and Amanda had lived in Bleecker
Street for many years. She was growing bored with the excessive
respectability of her place, and was delighted to find that her
mistress was human. Cold water, sal volatile, and hartshorn soon
restored Madeleine's composure. She handed her hat to the woman and
was alone with Holt.
"I thought--perhaps you understand--"
"I understand, all right. I hope you are not angry with me for
following you."
"I am only too glad to see you. I never knew a city could be so big
and heartless. I have felt like a leaf tossed about in a perpetual
cold wind. When did you arrive?"
"The day after you did."
"What? And you--you--have been looking for him?"
"That is what I came for--partly.
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