"You little impostor!" I said after a pause.
She laughed, and took my arm confidingly.
"I have always liked you, I have really," she said in a coaxing
undertone. "You are not like other men. You are not always trying to
make love to everybody. _Ma foi_! How I detest some of your
countrymen, they make themselves too ridiculous when they come to
France."
"You seem to know a lot about them," I answered, for want of something
better to say.
"_Bien_! I can assure you!" she replied, to my surprise, quite
bitterly. Then she said quickly, in her broken English as though
anxious to change the subject--
"You want Mademoiselle Vera--eh?"
"What do you mean?" I gasped, amazed.
"What I say. You want her. Well, she is quite near here."
"Near here!"
"_Mais oui_. Pay me enough, and I will take you to her--now."
I was panting with excitement. With an effort I controlled myself. It
was clear to me that this woman knew a great deal. She might indeed be
able to clear up the whole mystery of Houghton Park if she were paid
enough, perhaps also the mystery connected with Chateau d'Uzerche.
Yes, I would humour her. If it became necessary, I would pay her the
highest sum she might ask for, that I was in a position to pay. But
first to meet my darling again. How I longed to see her once more,
after all those mysterious happenings!
"How much do you want?" I asked abruptly.
She named an absurdly large sum. Eventually we came to terms, and I
paid her in French notes.
"_Tres bien_!" she said, as she stuffed the money into some queer corner
in her brief skirt. "You are a gentilhomme, not like ze others. _Mais
oui_."
Then she rose, signalled to me with her eyes, and I followed her out of
the room.