bronze handle. It gave access to his rooms he said; but he took us
straight on to the studio at the end of the passage.

It was rather a small place tacked on in the manner of a lean-to to
the garden side of the house. A large lamp was burning brightly
there. The floor was of mere flag-stones but the few rugs
scattered about though extremely worn were very costly. There was
also there a beautiful sofa upholstered in pink figured silk, an
enormous divan with many cushions, some splendid arm-chairs of
various shapes (but all very shabby), a round table, and in the
midst of these fine things a small common iron stove. Somebody
must have been attending it lately, for the fire roared and the
warmth of the place was very grateful after the bone-searching cold
blasts of mistral outside.

Mills without a word flung himself on the divan and, propped on his
arm, gazed thoughtfully at a distant corner where in the shadow of
a monumental carved wardrobe an articulated dummy without head or
hands but with beautifully shaped limbs composed in a shrinking
attitude, seemed to be embarrassed by his stare.

As we sat enjoying the bivouac hospitality (the dish was really
excellent and our host in a shabby grey jacket still looked the
accomplished man-about-town) my eyes kept on straying towards that
corner. Blunt noticed this and remarked that I seemed to be
attracted by the Empress.

"It's disagreeable," I said. "It seems to lurk there like a shy
skeleton at the feast. But why do you give the name of Empress to
that dummy?"