He went as directly as the streets permitted to our little _Hôtel de
Chine._
So he was coming back!
I dismissed my rickshaw at the corner of the street and walked to the
hotel.
He was not to be seen in office or lounge, so I went on up the stairs.
As I mounted, I heard voices. I stopped short when my eyes cleared the
top step, and looked down the corridor.
Heloise's door was a little ajar. I could tell this by the rectangular
shaft of light thrown from her room across the dim passage. Sir Robert
had unlocked his own door, just across from it, and was standing with
his hand on the knob, crouching a little, evidently listening to the
conversation in her room.