If you will honor us with your presence to-day
at four o'clock, I will be most happy to give you due satisfaction.
My servant will be waiting with the carriage at half-past three.
I am, sir, yours, &c., J. DEVENANT
JEROME FLETCHER, Esq.
Who this gentleman was, and how he had found out his name
and the hotel at which he was stopping, were alike mysteries
to Jerome. And this note seemed to his puzzled brain like
a challenge. "Satisfaction?" He had not asked for satisfaction.
However, he resolved to accept the invitation, and, if need be,
meet the worst. At any rate, this most mysterious and complicated
affair would be explained.
The clock on a neighboring church had scarcely finished striking three
when a servant announced to Jerome that a carriage had called for him.
In a few minutes, he was seated in a sumptuous barouche, drawn by a pair
of beautiful iron-grays, and rolling over a splendid gravel road
entirely shaded by trees, which appeared to have been the accumulated
growth of many centuries. The carriage soon stopped at a low villa,
which was completely embowered in trees.
Pages:
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200