dy issued from one of the front rooms and
intervened. She wore a black satin dress, a little shiny at the seams,
a purposeless bow of white tulle at the back of her neck, and a huge
chatelaine. She addressed Anna with a beaming smile and a very
creditable mixture of condescension and officiousness. Under the
somewhat trying incandescent light her cheeks pleaded guilty to a
recent use of the powder puff.

"I think that you were inquiring for Mr. Courtlaw," she remarked. "He
is one of our guests--perhaps I should say boarders here, but he
seldom returns before dinner-time. We dine at seven-thirty. Can I give
him any message for you?"

"Thank you," Anna answered. "I have a letter for him from his brother,
which I was just leaving."

"I will see that he gets it immediately on his return," the lady
promised. "You did not wish to see him particularly this evening,
then?"

Anna hesitated.

"Well, no," she answered. "To tell you the truth though, I am quite a
stranger in London, and it occurred to me that Mr. Courtlaw might have
been able to give me an idea where to stop."

The lady in black satin looked at the pile of luggage outside and
hesitated.

"Were you thinking of private apartments, a boarding-house or an
hotel?" she asked.

"I really had not thought about it at all," Anna answered smiling. "I
expected to stay with a relation, but I found that their arrangements
did not allow of it. I have been used to living in apartments in
Paris, but I suppose the system is different here."

The lady in black satin appeared undecided. She looked from Anna, who
was far too nice-looking to be travelling about alone, to that
reassuring pile of luggage, and wrinkled her brows thoughtfully.

"Of course," she said diffidently, "this is a boarding-house, although
we never take in promiscuous travellers. The class of guests we have
are all permanent, and I am obliged to be very careful indeed. But--if
you are a friend of Mr. Courtlaw's--I should like to oblige Mr.
Courtlaw."

"It is very nice of you to think of it," Anna said briskly. "I should
really like to find somewhere to stay, if it was only for a few
nights."

The lady stood away from the door.

"Will you come this way," she said, "into the drawing-room? There is
no one there just now. Most of my people are upstairs dressing for
dinner. The gentlemen are so particular now, and a good thing too, I
say. I was always used to it, and I think it gives quite a tone to an