The sun was blazing fiercely hot, hotter on this side, Sir Marmaduke thought, even than on the other; and there was not a wavelet of a cloud in the sky.  A balcony ran the whole length of the house, and under this Sir Marmaduke took shelter at once, leaning with his back against the wall.  ‘There is not a soul here at all,’ said he.

‘The men in the barn told us that there was,’ said Mr Glascock; ’and, at any rate, we will try the windows.’  So saying, he walked along the front of the house, Sir Marmaduke following him slowly, till they came to a door, the upper half of which was glazed, and through which they looked into one of the rooms.  Two or three of the other windows in this frontage of the house came down to the ground, and were made for egress and ingress; but they had all been closed with shutters, as though the house was deserted.  But they now looked into a room which contained some signs of habitation.  There was a small table with a marble top, on which lay two or three books, and there were two arm-chairs in the room, with gilded arms and legs, and a morsel of carpet, and a clock on, a shelf over a stove, and a rocking-horse.  ’The boy is here, you may be sure,’ said Mr Glascock.  ’The rocking-horse makes that certain.  But how are we to get at any one!’

’I never saw such a place for an Englishman to come and live in before,’ said Sir Marmaduke.  ‘What on earth can he do here all day!’ As he spoke the door of the room was opened, and there was Trevelyan standing before them, looking at them through the window.  He wore an old red English dressing-gown, which came down to his feet, and a small braided Italian cap on his head.  His beard had been allowed to grow, and he had neither collar nor cravat.  His trousers were unbraced, and he shuffled in with a pair of slippers, which would hardly cling to his feet.  He was paler and still thinner than when he had been visited at Willesden, and his eyes seemed to be larger, and shone almost with a brighter brilliancy.

Mr Glascock tried to open the door, but found that it was closed.  ’Sir Marmaduke and I have come to visit you,’ said Mr Glascock, aloud.  ’Is there any means by which we can get into the house?’ Trevelyan stood still and stared at them.  ’We knocked at the front door, but nobody came,’ continued Mr Glascock.  ’I suppose this is the way you usually go in and out.’

‘He does not mean to let us in,’ whispered Sir Marmaduke.

‘Can you open this door,’ said Mr Glascock, ’or shall we go round again?’ Trevelyan had stood still contemplating them, but at last came forward and put back the bolt.  ‘That is all right,’ said Mr Glascock, entering.  ‘I am sure you will be glad to see Sir Marmaduke.’

‘I should be glad to see him or you, if I could entertain you,’ said Trevelyan.  His voice was harsh and hard, and his words were uttered with a certain amount of intended grandeur.  ’Any of the family would be welcome were it not—­’