LadyCareysuddenlydroppedherpartner’sarm。Shehadseenamanstandingbyhimselfwithfoldedarmsandmoodyfaceattheentrancetotheball-room。Sheraisedherlorgnettes。Hisidentitywasunquestionable。
“Willyouexcusemeforamoment，CaptainHorton，“shesaidtoherescort。“IwantparticularlytospeaktoMr。Brott。“
CaptainHortonbowedwiththeslightdisappointmentofahungrymanonhiswaytothesupper-room。
“Don’tbelong，“hebegged。“Theplacesarefillingup。
LadyCareynoddedandwalkedswiftlyacrosstowhereBrottwasstanding。Hemovedeagerlyforwardtomeether。
“Notdancing，Mr。Brott？“
Heshruggedhisshoulders。
“Thissortofthingisn’tmuchinmyway，“heanswered。“IwasratherhopingtoseetheCountesshere。Itrustthatsheisnotindisposed。“
Shelookedathimsteadily。
“Doyoumean，“shesaid，“thatyoudonotknowwheresheis？“
“I？“heansweredinamazement。“HowshouldI？Ihavenotseenheratallthisevening。Iunderstoodthatshewastobehere。“
LadyCareyhesitated。Themanwastoohonesttobeabletolielikethis，eveninagoodcause。Shestoodquitestillforamomentthinking。Severalofherdearestfriendshadalreadytoldherthatshewaslookingtiredandillthisevening。Atthatmomentshewaspositivelyhaggard。
“IhavebeendownatRanelaghthisafternoon，“shesaidslowly，“anddiningout，soIhavenotseenLucille。Shewascomplainingofaheadacheyesterday，butIquitethoughtthatshewascominghere。HaveyouseentheDuchess？“
Heshookhishead。
“No。Thereissuchacrowd。“
LadyCareyglancedtowardsherescortandturnedaway。
“Iwilltryandfindoutwhathasbecomeofher，“shesaid。“Don’tgoawayyet。“
Sherejoinedherescort。
“Whenwehavefoundatable，“shesaid，“IwantyoutokeepmyplaceforafewmomentswhileItryandfindsomeofmyparty。“
Theypassedintothesupper-room，andappropriatedasmalltable。
LadyCareyleftherpartner，andmadeherwaytothefartherendoftheapartment，wherethePrinceofSaxeLeinitzerwassuppingwithhalfadozenmenandwomen。Shetouchedhimontheshoulder。
“Iwanttospeaktoyouforamoment，Ferdinand，“shewhispered。
Heroseatonce，andshedrewhim-alittleapart。
“Brottishere，“shesaidslowly。
“Brotthere！“herepeated。“AndLucille？“
“Heisaskingforher-expectedtofindherhere。Heisdownstairsnow，lookingthepictureofmisery。“
Helookedatherinquiringly。Therewasacurioussteelylightinhereyes，andshewasshowingherfrontteeth，whichwerealittleprominent。
“Doyouthink，“heasked，“thatshehasdeceivedus？“
“Whatelse？WherearetheDorsets？“
“TheDuchessiswiththeEarlofCondon，andsomemorepeopleattheroundtableunderthebalcony。“
“Givemeyourarm，“shewhispered。“Wemustgoandaskher；“
Theycrossedtheroomtogether。LadyCareysankintoavacantchairbythesideoftheDuchessandtalkedforafewminutestothepeoplewhomsheknew。ThensheturnedandwhisperedintheDuchess’sear。
“WhereisLucille？“
TheDuchesslookedatherwithameaningsmile。
“HowshouldIknow？Sheleftwhenwedid。“
“Alone？“
“Yes。Itwasallunderstood，wasn’tit？“
LadyCareylaughedunpleasantly。
“Shehasfooledus，“shesaid。“Brottisherealone。Knowsnothingofher。“
TheDuchesswaspuzzled。
“Well，Iknownothingmorethanyoudo，“sheanswered。“Areyousurethemanistellingthetruth？“
“Ofcourse。Heistheimageofdespair。“
“Iamsureshewasinearnest，“theDuchesssaid。“WhenIaskedherwhethersheshouldcomeonhereshelaughedalittlenervously，andsaidperhapsorsomethingofthatsort。“
“Thefoolmayhavebungledit，“LadyCareysaidthoughtfully。“I
willgobacktohim。There’sthatidiotofapartnerofmine。I
mustgoandpretendtohavesomesupper。“
CaptainHortonfoundhisvis-a-visasomewhatunsatisfactorycompanion。Shedrankseveralglassesofchampagne，atescarcelyanything，andrushedhimawaybeforehehadtakentheedgeoffhisappetite。HebroughthertotheDuchessandwentbackinahufftofinishhissupperalone。LadyCareywentdownstairsanddiscoveredMr。Brott，whohadscarcelymoved。
“Haveyouseenanythingofher？“sheasked。
Heshookhisheadgloomily。
“No！Itistoolateforhertocomenow，isn’tit？“
“Takemesomewherewherewecantalk，“shesaidabruptly。“Oneofthoseseatsintherecesswilldo。“
Heobeyedher，andtheyfoundaretiredcorner。LadyCareywastednotimeinfencing。
“IamLucille’sgreatestfriend，Mr。Brott，andherconfidante，“
shesaid。
Henodded。
“SoIhaveunderstood。“
“Shetellsmeeverything。“
Heglancedtowardsheralittleuneasily。
“Thatiscomprehensive！“heremarked。
“Itistrue，“sheanswered。“Lucillehastoldmeagreatdealaboutyourfriendship！Come，thereisnouseinourmincingwords。
Lucillehasbeenbadlytreatedyearsago，andshehasaperfectrighttoseekanyconsolationshemayfind。Theoldfashionedideas，thankgoodness，donotholdanylongeramongstus。Itisnotnecessarytotieyourselfforlifetoamaninordertoprocurealittlediversion。“
“Iwillnotpretendtomisunderstandyou，LadyCarey，“hesaidgravely，“butImustdeclinetodiscusstheCountessofRadantzinconnectionwithsuchmatters。“
“Oh，come！“shedeclaredimpatiently；“rememberthatIamherfriend。Yoursisquitetheproperattitude，butwithmeitdoesn’tmatter。NowIamgoingtoaskyouaplainquestion。HadYouanyengagementwithLucilleto-night？“
Shewatchedhimmercilessly。Hewascolouringlikeaboy。LadyCarey’sthinlipscurled。Shehadnosympathywithsuchamateurishlove-making。Nevertheless，hisembarrassmentwasagreatrelieftoher。
“Shepromisedtobehere，“heansweredstiffly。
“Everythingdependsuponyourbeinghonestwithme，“shecontinued。
“YouwillseefrommyquestionthatIknow。Wastherenotsomethingsaidaboutsupperatyourroomsbeforeorafterthedance？“
“Icannotdiscussthismatterwithyouoranylivingperson，“heanswered。“Ifyouknowsomuchwhyaskme？“
LadyCareycouldhaveshakentheman，butsherestrainedherself。
“Itissufficient！“shedeclared。“WhatIcannotunderstandiswhyyouarehere-whenLucilleisprobablyawaitingforyouatyourrooms。“
Hestartedfromhischairasthoughhehadbeenshot。
“Whatdoyoumean？“heexclaimed。“Shewasto-“
Hestoppedshort。LadyCareyshruggedhershoulders。
“Oh，writtenyouorsomething，Isuppose！“sheexclaimed。“TrustanEnglishmanforbunglingaloveaffair。AllIcantellyouisthatsheleftDorsetHouseinahansomwithouttheothers，andsaidsomethingabouthavingsupperwithsomefriends。“
Brottsprangtohisfeetandtookaquicksteptowardstheexit。
“Itisnotpossible！“heexclaimed。
Shetookhisarm。Healmostdraggedheralong。
“Well，wearegoingtosee，“shesaidcoolly。“Tellthemantocallahansom。“
TheydrovealmostinsilencethroughtheSquaretoPallMall。
Brottleapedoutontothepavementdirectlythecabpulledup。
“Iwillwaithere，“LadyCareysaid。“IonlywanttoknowthatLucilleissafe。“
Hedisappeared，andshesatforwardinthecabdrummingidlywithherforefingersupontheapron。Inafewminuteshecameback。
Hisappearancewasquitesufficient。Hewasverypale。Thechangeinhimwassoludicrousthatshelaughed。
“Getin，“shesaid。“IamgoingroundtoDorsetHouse。Wemustfindoutifwecanwhathasbecomeofher。“
Heobeyedwithoutcomment。AtDorsetHouseLadyCareysummonedtheDuchess’sownmaid。
“Marie，“shesaid，“youwereattendingupontheCountessRadantzto-night？“
“Yes，mylady。“
“Atwhattimedidsheleave？“
“Atabout，eleven，mylady。“
“Alone？“
“Yes，mylady。“
LadyCareylookedsteadilyatthegirl。
“Didshetakeanythingwithher？“
Thegirlhesitated。LadyCareyfrowned。
“Itmustbethetruth，remember，Marie。“
“Certainly，mylady！Shetookhersmalldressing-case。“
LadyCareysetherteethhard。Thenwithamovementofherheadshedismissedthemaid。Shewalkedrestlesslyupanddowntheroom。Thenshestoppedshortwithahardlittlelaugh。
“IfIgivewaylikethis，“shemurmured，“Ishallbepositivelyhideous，andafterall，ifshewasthereitwasnotpossibleforhim-“
Shestoppedshort，andsuddenlytearingthehandkerchiefwhichshehadbeencarryingintoshredsthrewthepiecesuponthefloor，andstampeduponthem。Thenshelaughedshortly，andturnedtowardsthedoor。
“NowImustgoandgetridofthatpoorfooloutside，“shesaid。
“Whatabungler！“
Brottwasbesidehimselfwithimpatience。
“Lucilleishere，“sheannounced，steppinginbesidehim。“Shehasashockingheadacheandhasgonetobed。Asamatteroffact，I
believethatshewasexpectingtohearfromyou。“
“Impossible！“heansweredshortly。Hewasbeginningtodistrustthiswoman。
“Nevermind。Youcanmakeitupwithherto-morrow。Iwasfoolishtobeanxiousaboutheratall。Areyoucominginagain？“
TheywereatCarmarthenHouse。Hehandedherout。
“No，thanks！IfyouwillallowmeIwillwishyougood-night。“
Shemadeherwayintotheball-room，andfoundthePrinceofSaxeLeinitzer，whowasjustleaving。
“DoyouknowwhereLucilleissheasked。
Helookedupathersharply。“Where？“
“AttheCarltonHotel-withhim。“
Herosetohisfeetwithslowbutevilpromptitude。Hisfacejustthenwasveryunlikethefaceofanangel。LadyCareylaughedaloud。
“Poorman，“shesaidmockingly。“ItisalwaysthesamewhenyouandSouspenniermeet。“
Hesethisteeth。
“Thistime，“hemuttered，“Iholdthetrumps。“
Shepointedattheclock。Itwasnearlyfour。“Shewasthereateleven，“sheremarkeddrily。