He seated himself in his usual place, placid and fresh as ever;
but, unharmed as he was physically, it was evident to all the
company that he was suffering from some mental discomposure. Miss
Macdonnell, with a frank curiosity which might have been trying in
any one else, asked him point-blank the reason of his absence from
the meal for which, in spite of his partiality for French cookery,
he had a true Englishman's devotion.
"I feel I owe the company some apology for my apparent
churlishness," he said; "but the fact is, that I have received some
very harrowing, but at the same time very interesting, news this
morning. I think I told you the other day how the vacancy in my
kitchen has led up to a very real tragedy, and that the abhorred
Fury was already hovering terribly near the head of poor Narcisse.
Well, I have just received from a friend in Paris journals
containing a full account of the trial of Narcisse and of his fair
accomplice. The worst has come to pass, and Narcisse has been
doomed to sneeze into the basket like a mere aristocrat or
politician during the Terror I was greatly upset by this news, but
I was interested, and in a measure consoled, to find an enclosure
amongst the other papers, an envelope addressed to me in the
handwriting of the condemned man.
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