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Lowndes, Marie Adelaide Belloc, 1868-1947

"The Chink in the Armour"

The shutters were fastened closely, and the room was
dreadfully hot and airless.
Once more Sylvia wondered why the Wachners preferred to live in this
cheerless way, with a servant who only came for a few hours each day,
rather than at an hotel or boarding-house.
And then she reminded herself that, after all, the silent, gaunt man, and
his talkative, voluble wife, seemed to be on exceptionally good terms the
one with the other. Perhaps they really preferred being alone together
than in a more peopled atmosphere.
While moving aimlessly about the room, Sylvia began to feel unaccountably
nervous and oppressed. She longed to be away from this still, empty
house, and yet it seemed absurd to leave just as the Wachners would be
returning home.
After a few more minutes, however, the quietude, and the having
absolutely nothing to do with which to wile away the time, affected
Sylvia's nerves.
It was, after all, quite possible that the Wachners intended to wait in
Paris till the heat of the day was over. In that case they would not be
back till seven o'clock.


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