He jerked the door towards him, raised the hook, and without considering what he was doing, pushed it open with such force that it struck her.

“Oh⁠— pardon !” he suddenly exclaimed, reverting completely to his old manner with ladies.

She smiled on hearing that pardon . “He is not quite so terrible, after all,” she thought. “It’s all right. It is you who must pardon me,” she said, stepping past him. “I should never have ventured, but such an extraordinary circumstance⁠ ⁠…”

“If you please!” he uttered, and stood aside to let her pass him. A strong smell of fine scent, which he had long not encountered, struck him. She went through the little porch into the cell where he lived. He closed the outer door without fastening the hook, and stepped in after her.