Chapter
7
THE FIERCE-EYED MANTHE STAFF AT THE LODGE consisted in its entirety of one old maid-servant, a little deaf and very short-sighted, who combined the functions, as occasion demanded, of parlour-maid, cook and gardener. Notwithstanding these manifold duties, Valentine hardly ever left her kitchen-range, which was situated in an extension built on to the house and opening directly upon the street.
This was where I found her. She did not seem surprised at my return — nothing, for that matter, ever surprised or perturbed her — and I at once saw that she was still living outside the course of events and that she would be unable to tell me anything useful. I gathered, however, that my uncle and Berangere had gone out half an hour earlier.
“Together?” I asked.
“Good gracious, no! The
