"My
duty lies plain before me. Of myself I should not have selected the
Zoological Gardens and the butler's pantry of a comparative stranger as
places in which to pass the night, even when accompanied by my husband.
But my conscience--_mens conscium recto_--guides me and I will not
resist it. I will assume my _neglige_ and bonnet and will be with you in
a moment."
So saying she majestically quitted the apartment.
The Prophet fell down upon the maroon sofa like a man smitten with
paralysis. He felt suddenly old, and very weak. He tried to think, to
consider how he could explain Madame Sagittarius to his grandmother--for
she must surely now become aware of the presence of strangers in her
pretty home--how he could arrange matters with Mr. Ferdinand, how he
could apologise to a lady whom he had never yet seen for appearing
at her house with two uninvited guests, how he could get rid of the
Sagittariuses when the horrible night watch should be at an end and the
frigid winter dawn be near. But his mind refused to work. His brain was
a blank, containing nothing except, perhaps, a vague desire for
sudden death. Mr. Sagittarius did not disturb his contemplation of
the inevitable.
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