OU_214051 UNIVERSA - Osmania University

THE LODGER 93
" Please don't bother, Monsieur Elie."
" It's not the least bother. I like doing it."
He was constantly in the kitchen. Sometimes she managed to
get him out of it, but he nearly always came back in a few minutes,
on some pretext or other.
" Look here, I've got to wash die floor," she would say. " Please
go to your room."
He thought up another trick; he left his bedroom door ajar, and
no one could enter or leave the house without being hailed by him.
" Hullo, Valesco! Come and warm your hands for a moment.
Madame Baron wants the kitchen to herself just now. A cigarette?
.. . You see how right I was! There's not a word about me in file
papers today."
He was always the first to read them, and would even snatch
Baron's Gaiette from his hand when he was settling down to read it.
" May I have just a peep? . . . Thanks so much."
When satisfied that there was no reference to himself, he handed
the paper back, with a wink to the others round the table and a
murmured " All's well! "
In a flutter of anxiety Madame Baron watched her husband's
face, but he never seemed to notice anything odd in Ehe's conduct.
All of them did their best to avoid being buttonholed by Elie on
their way through the hall, or at the kitchen door—but there was
no escaping him. Time and again Madame Baron begged him to
remain in his room and keep the door shut.
" But I'd so much rather be with you! " he would reply.
And she never could summon up the courage to tell him frankly
that his presence made her feel uncomfortable.
It had the same effect on everyone in the house, with the exception
of Baron, who still had no suspicion of any kind. The others,
when they wanted to discuss the situation, were reduced to taking
refuge in the attics or on the first-floor landing. Even so, Elie, who
had sharp ears, would say the moment they came down:
" Been talking about me, haven't you? "
" Don't be silly! Do you imagine we've nothing else to talk
about?"
" I'm certain that was it. But you've no reason to feel anxious.
In a few days' time they'll have forgotten all about me, and I shall
make a move. And, of course, once I'm back at home, I'll send you
all nice souvenirs."
He seemed to have completely forgotten that humiliating scene