ll be done, sir, between one and two," said Pedgift, when
the cab had been stopped, and Allan had got out. "Shall we meet again at
two o'clock, at the hotel?"

Allan nodded, and the cab drove off.

IV. ALLAN AT BAY.

Two o'clock came; and Pedgift Junior, punctual to his time, came with
it. His vivacity of the morning had all sparkled out; he greeted Allan
with his customary politeness, but without his customary smile; and,
when the headwaiter came in for orders, his dismissal was instantly
pronounced in words never yet heard to issue from the lips of Pedgift in
that hotel: "Nothing at present."

"You seem to be in low spirits," said Allan. "Can't we get our
information? Can nobody tell you anything about the house in Pimlico?"

"Three different people have told me about it, Mr. Armadale, and they
have all three said the same thing."

Allan eagerly drew his chair nearer to the place occupied by his
traveling companion. His reflections in the interval since they had last
seen each other had not tended to compose him. That strange connection,
so easy to feel, so hard to trace, between the difficulty of approaching
Miss Gwilt's family circumstances and the difficulty of approaching Miss
Gwilt's reference, which had already established itself in his thoughts,
had by this time stealthily taken a firmer and firmer hold on his mind.
Doubts troubled him which he could neither understand nor express.
Curiosity filled him, which he half longed and half dreaded to satisfy.

"I am afraid I must trouble you with a question or two, sir, before
I can come to the point," said Pedgift Junior. "I don't want to force
myself into your confidence. I only want to see my way, in what looks to
me like a very awkward business. Do you mind telling me whether others
besides yourself are interested in this inquiry of ours?"

"Other people _are_ interested in it," replied Allan. "There's no
objection to telling you that."

"Is there any other person who is the object of the inquiry besides Mrs.
Mandeville, herself?" pursued Pedgift, winding his way a little deeper
into the secret.

"Yes; there is another person," said Allan, answering rather
unwillingly.

"Is the person a young woman, Mr. Armadale?"

Allan started. "How do you come to guess that?" he began, then checked
himself, when it was too late. "Don't ask me any more questions," he
resumed. "I'm a bad hand at defending myself against a sharp fellow like
you; and I'm bound