He listened to every word with
the deepest attention and sympathy. After a while he said,
'You must not go to your hotel to-night. A friend of mine who
occupies two rooms is not sleeping here to-night, and I particularly
wish for you to take his bed, so that I can see you in the morning.
We shall not breakfast together. My breakfast is a peculiarly
irregular meal. But when you wake ring your bedroom bell and order
your own breakfast; afterwards we shall meet in the studio.'
I did not in the least object to this arrangement, for I found his
society a great relief.
Next morning, after I had finished my solitary breakfast, I asked the
servant if Mr. D'Arcy had yet risen. On being told that he had not, I
went downstairs into the studio where I had spent the previous
evening. After examining the pictures on the walls and the easels, I
walked to the window and looked out at the garden. It was large, and
so neglected and untrimmed as to be a veritable wilderness. While I
was marvelling why it should have been left in this state, I saw the
eyes of some animal staring at me from the distance, and was soon
astonished to see that they belonged to a little Indian bull.
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