Third Period Chapter 38 Ici On Parle Francais

In an interval, when the service of the table required the attendance
of Fanny in the kitchen, Mr. Vimpany took the opportunity of saying a
few cheering words. He had come (he remarked) prepared with the right
sort of remedy for an ailing state of mind, and he would explain
himself at a fitter opportunity. Lord Harry impatiently asked why the
explanation was deferred. If the presence of the maid was the obstacle
which caused delay, it would be easy to tell her that she was not
wanted to wait.

The wary doctor positively forbade this.

He had observed Fanny, during his previous visit, and had discovered
that she seemed to distrust him. The woman was sly and suspicious.
Since they had sat down to dinner, it was easy to see that she was
lingering in the room to listen to the conversation, on one pretence or
another. If she was told not to wait, there could be no doubt of her
next proceeding: she would listen outside the door. "Take my word for
it," the doctor concluded, "there are all the materials for a spy in
Fanny Mere."

But Lord Harry was obstinate. Chafing under the sense of his helpless
pecuniary position, he was determined to hear, at once, what remedy for
it Vimpany had discovered.

"We can set that woman's curiosity at defiance," he said.

"How?"

"When you were learning your profession, you lived in Paris for some
years, didn't you?