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There
was
another
long
interval
of
suspense
before
the
porter
reappeared
with
an
affirmative
answer
;
and
a
third
while
an
exiguous
and
hesitating
lift
bore
her
up
past
a
succession
of
shabby
landings
.
When
the
last
was
reached
,
and
her
guide
had
directed
her
down
a
winding
passage
that
smelt
of
sea
-
going
luggage
,
she
found
herself
before
a
door
through
which
a
strong
odour
of
tobacco
reached
her
simultaneously
with
the
sounds
of
a
suppressed
altercation
.
Her
knock
was
followed
by
a
silence
,
and
after
a
minute
or
two
the
door
was
opened
by
a
handsome
young
man
whose
ruffled
hair
and
general
air
of
creased
disorder
led
her
to
conclude
that
he
had
just
risen
from
a
long
-
limbed
sprawl
on
a
sofa
strewn
with
tumbled
cushions
.
This
sofa
,
and
a
grand
piano
bearing
a
basket
of
faded
roses
,
a
biscuit
-
tin
and
a
devastated
breakfast
tray
,
almost
filled
the
narrow
sitting
-
room
,
in
the
remaining
corner
of
which
another
man
,
short
,
swarthy
and
humble
,
sat
examining
the
lining
of
his
hat
.
Anna
paused
in
doubt
;
but
on
her
naming
Mrs
.
Birch
the
young
man
politely
invited
her
to
enter
,
at
the
same
time
casting
an
impatient
glance
at
the
mute
spectator
in
the
background
.
The
latter
,
raising
his
eyes
,
which
were
round
and
bulging
,
fixed
them
,
not
on
the
young
man
but
on
Anna
,
whom
,
for
a
moment
,
he
scrutinized
as
searchingly
as
the
interior
of
his
hat
.
Under
his
gaze
she
had
the
sense
of
being
minutely
catalogued
and
valued
;
and
the
impression
,
when
he
finally
rose
and
moved
toward
the
door
,
of
having
been
accepted
as
a
better
guarantee
than
he
had
had
any
reason
to
hope
for
.
On
the
threshold
his
glance
crossed
that
of
the
young
man
in
an
exchange
of
intelligence
as
full
as
it
was
rapid
;
and
this
brief
scene
left
Anna
so
oddly
enlightened
that
she
felt
no
surprise
when
her
companion
,
pushing
an
arm
-
chair
forward
,
sociably
asked
her
if
she
wouldn
’
t
have
a
cigarette
.
Her
polite
refusal
provoked
the
remark
that
he
would
,
if
she
’
d
no
objection
;
and
while
he
groped
for
matches
in
his
loose
pockets
,
and
behind
the
photographs
and
letters
crowding
the
narrow
mantel
-
shelf
,
she
ventured
another
enquiry
for
Mrs
.
Birch
.
“
Just
a
minute
,
”
he
smiled
;
“
I
think
the
masseur
’
s
with
her
.
”
He
spoke
in
a
smooth
denationalized
English
,
which
,
like
the
look
in
his
long
-
lashed
eyes
and
the
promptness
of
his
charming
smile
,
suggested
a
long
training
in
all
the
arts
of
expediency
.
Having
finally
discovered
a
match
-
box
on
the
floor
beside
the
sofa
,
he
lit
his
cigarette
and
dropped
back
among
the
cushions
;
and
on
Anna
’
s
remarking
that
she
was
sorry
to
disturb
Mrs
.
Birch
he
replied
that
that
was
all
right
,
and
that
she
always
kept
everybody
waiting
.
After
this
,
through
the
haze
of
his
perpetually
renewed
cigarettes
,
they
continued
to
chat
for
some
time
of
indifferent
topics
;
but
when
at
last
Anna
again
suggested
the
possibility
of
her
seeing
Mrs
.
Birch
he
rose
from
his
corner
with
a
slight
shrug
,
and
murmuring
:
“
She
’
s
perfectly
hopeless
,
”
lounged
off
through
an
inner
door
.
Anna
was
still
wondering
when
and
in
what
conjunction
of
circumstances
the
much
-
married
Laura
had
acquired
a
partner
so
conspicuous
for
his
personal
charms
,
when
the
young
man
returned
to
announce
:
“
She
says
it
’
s
all
right
,
if
you
don
’
t
mind
seeing
her
in
bed
.
”
He
drew
aside
to
let
Anna
pass
,
and
she
found
herself
in
a
dim
untidy
scented
room
,
with
a
pink
curtain
pinned
across
its
single
window
,
and
a
lady
with
a
great
deal
of
fair
hair
and
uncovered
neck
smiling
at
her
from
a
pink
bed
on
which
an
immense
powder
-
puff
trailed
.
