M. Felix: "Hush! Come in. Step softly." That was all. The door was closed, and all was still. Emilia stood upright, with a face as white as the falling snow. The words with their hidden meanings, the voices with their varying tones, the trick by which Dr. Peterssen had found it necessary to obtain admission to the presence of M. Felix, the veiled threats, the allusions to the partnership in Switzerland and to her dear Gerald--what did all these portend? What but a secret plot, unknown to her, unknown to all but its accomplices, a plot in which Gerald had been involved, and therefore she? Oh, for some beneficent gift to pierce those walls, to hear what those villains were saying! But it was idle and might be hurtful to indulge in vain, impracticable wishes. She summoned all her fortitude. Scarcely now could she hope to obtain speech to-night with the man whom she believed had ruined her life, and who could ruin it still further. But she would not desert her post; she would wait and hope. She heeded not the bitter, piercing cold; she seemed to be divinely armed against physical suffering. So she tramped slowly up and down the street through the deep snow, keeping her eyes fixed ever on the windows of the room in which the conspirators were conversing, walking backward with her face to them when she went from the house. Visions of the past rose before her; the white snow falling even in this narrow street brought back the snow mountains of Switzerland, where last she had seen the two enemies within hail of her. "Strengthen me, oh, God of the universe!" she murmured. "Endow me with power to fulfil my task, so that I may keep shame and sorrow from my beloved child." CHAPTER XLI. DR. PETERSSEN BRINGS M. FELIX TO BOOK. When Dr. Peterssen entered M. Felix's sitting-room he sank into a chair, and gazed around upon the luxurious furnishings with an air of scornful approval. A cigar-case was on the table, and without invitation the unwelcome visitor helped himself to a cigar, which he lighted and smoked in silence for two or three minutes. Meanwhile M. Felix looked on and said nothing. "You are comfortably lodged here," said Dr. Peterssen, at length, "and your cigars are very fine; but you were ever a man of taste in the matter of your own enjoyments; the best were always good enough for you. By the by, the friends you were entertaining? Where are they?" M. Felix smiled sourly, and Dr. Peterssen laughed aloud. The next moment, however, he became grave. "Let us proceed to business." "With all my heart," said M. Felix. "I shall be rid of you all the sooner." "You will never be rid of me, dear comrade. I am curious to learn for what reason Mr. Leonard Paget has transformed himself into M. Felix." "You are curious to learn nothing of the sort; you are acquainted with the reason. It was to escape from your rapacity, which in another year or two would have beggared me."