She went back to the cheapest (and dirtiest) of the pensions she had
visited. She stated her case--she had missed milady her mistress--she
must stay until she should receive orders to go on, and money--would
they take her in until one or the other arrived? Certainly. They would
take her in, at five francs a day, payable every morning in advance.
She made a little calculation--she had twenty-eight and tenpence;
exactly thirty-five francs--enough for seven days. If she wrote to Mrs.
Vimpany at once she could get an answer in five days.
She accepted the offer, paid her five shillings, was shown into a room,
and was informed that the dinner was served at six o'clock.
Very good. Here she could rest, at any rate, and think what was to be
done. And first she wrote two letters--one to Mrs. Vimpany and one to
Mr. Mountjoy.
In both of these letters she told exactly what she had found: neither
Lord Harry nor his wife at the cottage, the place vacated, and the
doctor on the point of going away. In both letters she told how she had
been sent all the way into Switzerland on a fool's errand, and now
found herself planted there without the means of getting home. In the
letter to Mrs.
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