"I don't know. He used to say Georges will not let you do this; Georges will not let you do that. What right has Georges that he should order you here or there? And then my aunt used to cry." "Were you often at your aunt's apartment?" "Very often." "You lived there sometimes, did you not?" "Yes, I used to stay there for a week sometimes. It was very nice to be with my aunt, much nicer than being with grandmother. She used to take me out in a carriage sometimes. Her rooms were prettier than grandmother's rooms, for there were flowers all about, and pretty things, and she was prettier, and wore prettier clothes." "But if you were there for a week at a time, how was it that you never saw this Monsieur Georges, who was such a close friend of your aunt's?" "He never came till late at night. He used to come to supper often. I heard the servant say so. She said he was a dissipated man, a bad subject. Grandmother said so too. 'Has that night-bird been here again?' she asked my aunt once; and my aunt was angry, and began to cry; and then grandmother got angry too, and said, 'Who is he, and what is he? I want to know that.' And then my aunt said, 'He is a gentleman; that is enough for you to know;' and then she showed my grandmother a pretty necklace that Georges had given her the night before--a necklace of shining white beads, like the water-drops from the fountain at the Tuileries." "They were diamonds, I suppose?" "Yes, that is what grandmother called them. She wetted them with her tongue to find out if they were real diamonds, and then she and my aunt kissed each other, and made friends." "You are sure you never saw this Monsieur Georges?" "Never. My aunt used to send me to bed very early, before she went to the theatre." "Did she not take you with her to the theatre sometimes?" "Never. She said that theatres were not good for little girls." "Now tell me about your journey to Saint-Germain. How did you go?" "First in a carriage, and then in a train." "Had you to wait at the station?" "A long time. I was tired of waiting so long. I thought it would have been nicer to be at home, where I had story-books to read." "What did your aunt and Monsieur de Maucroix do while they were waiting?" "They sat in a corner of a big room, with great windows through which we could see the trains. I watched the trains through the window." "Were there many other people in the room?" "Very few." "Did you take notice of any one?" "I noticed a little girl. She was bigger than I am, but not much. I thought I should like to play with her. She had a blue balloon, and she let it fly out of the window and broke it." "Did you notice nobody else?" "Only one other person--a gentleman who wore dark spectacles." "What made you observe him in particular?" "His spectacles were so curious, and he looked at my aunt." "What do you mean when you say that he looked at your aunt? Did he look as if he knew her?"