"I will walk as far as the cab-rank with you," he said, finding
himself to be possessed of a spirit of unrest. Whereupon the two went
out of the room, Stuart extinguishing the lamps as he came to the
door.
They had not left the study for more than two minutes ere a car drew
up outside the house, and Mrs. M'Gregor ushered a lady into the room
but lately quitted by Stuart and Dunbar, turning up the lights as she
entered.
"The doctor has gone out but just now, Miss Dorian," she said stiffly.
"I am sorry that ye are so unfortunate in your veesits. But I know
he'll be no more than a few minutes."
The girl addressed was of a type fully to account for the misgivings
of the shrewd old Scotswoman. She had the slim beauty of the East
allied to the elegance of the West. Her features, whilst cast in a
charming European mould, at the same time suggested in some subtle
way the Oriental. She had the long, almond-shaped eyes of the Egyptian,
and her hair, which she wore unconventionally in a picturesque
fashion reminiscent of the _harem_, was inclined to be "fuzzy," but
gleamed with coppery tints where the light touched its waves.
She wore a cloak of purple velvet having a hooded collar of white fox
fur; it fastened with golden cords. Beneath it was a white and gold
robe, cut with classic simplicity of line and confined at the waist
by an ornate Eastern girdle. White stockings and dull gold shoes
exhibited to advantage her charming little feet and slim ankles, and
she carried a handbag of Indian beadwork.
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