Mr. Bunting jumped nervously to her feet. She stood for a moment listening in the darkness, a darkness made the blacker by the line of light under the door behind which sat Bunting reading his paper. And then it came again, that loud, tremulous, uncertain double knock; not a knock, so the listener told herself, that boded any good. Would-be lodgers gave sharp, quick, bold, confident raps. No; this must be some kind of beggar. The queerest people came at all hours, and asked-whining or threatening-for money. Mrs. Bunting ...
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Mr. Bunting jumped nervously to her feet. She stood for a moment listening in the darkness, a darkness made the blacker by the line of light under the door behind which sat Bunting reading his paper. And then it came again, that loud, tremulous, uncertain double knock; not a knock, so the listener told herself, that boded any good. Would-be lodgers gave sharp, quick, bold, confident raps. No; this must be some kind of beggar. The queerest people came at all hours, and asked-whining or threatening-for money. Mrs. Bunting had had some sinister experiences with men and women -especially women-drawn from that nameless, mysterious class made up of the human flotsam and jetsam which drifts about every great city. But since she had taken to leaving the gas in the passage unlit at night she had been very little troubled with that kind of visitors, those human bats which are attracted by any kind of light but leave alone those who live in darkness. She opened the door of the sitting-room. It was Bunting's place to go to the front door, but she knew far better than he did how to deal with difficult or obtrusive callers. Still, somehow, she would have liked him to go to-night. But Bunting sat on, absorbed in his newspaper; all he did at the sound of the bedroom door opening was to look up and say, "Didn't you hear a knock?" Without answering his question she went out into the hall. Slowly she opened the front door. On the top of the three steps which led up to the door, there stood the long, lanky figure of a man, clad in an Inverness cape and an old-fashioned top hat. He waited for a few seconds blinking at her, perhaps dazzled by the light of the gas in the passage. Mrs. Bunting's trained perception told her at once that this man, odd as he looked, was a gentleman, belonging by birth to the class with whom her former employment had brought her in contact. "Is it not a fact that you let lodgings?" he asked, and there was something shrill, unbalanced, hesitating, in his voice. - Taken from "The Lodger" written by Marie Belloc Lowndes
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Seller's Description:
Fine in Fine jacket. Reprint. Small owner name else fine in about fine dust jacket (illustrated by Sosnensky) with a short tear. Haunting mystery tale that revolves around the Jack the Ripper murders. This novel was the basis for several films, including a 1927 Alfred Hitchcock silent featuring Ivor Novello in the title role, then remade in 1932 by Maurice Elvey, this time with sound, and Novello reprising his role. A scarce, handsome reprint issue.
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Seller's Description:
Near Fine. First American edition. Red cloth gilt. Modest staining at top of the front and rear boards, else a nice very good or better copy without dust jacket. Haunting mystery tale that revolves around the Jack the Ripper murders. This novel was the basis for several films, including a 1927 Alfred Hitchcock silent featuring Ivor Novello in the title role, then remade in 1932 by Maurice Elvey, this time with sound, and Novello reprising his role.
