Bayford's enthusiasm, in order to let the intelligence filter gently
through the neutral agencies of common gossip. In this way it would seem
to Miss Grimston a discovery of her own, and appeal to her as an
indirect corroboration of his word. He had the less scruple in taking
these precautions in that he believed Diane to have justified anything
he might have said of her. It was no small relief to a man of honor to
know he had not been guilty of a gratuitous slander, even though it was
only on a woman. He awaited Miss Grimston's next words with complacent
expectancy, but when they came they surprised him.

"I wondered a little why you should have been at Lakefield."

"I'm afraid you'll think it was for a very foolish reason," he laughed,
"but I'll tell you, if you want to know. I went because I thought you
were there."

"I? At three o'clock in the morning?"

"It was like this," he went on. "You'll pardon me if I say anything to
give you offence, but you'll understand the reason why. On the day when
we all lunched together at the Restaurant Blitz--you, Madame your aunt,
your friend Monsieur Reggie Bradford, and I--I was a little jealous of
some understanding between you two, in which I was not included. You
spoke together in whispers, and exchanged glances in such a way that all
my fears were aroused. Afterward you went away with him. That evening,
at the Stuyvesant Club, I heard a strange rumor. It was whispered from
one to another until it reached me. Your friend Monsieur Bradford is not
a silent person, and what he knows is sure to become common property.
The rumor--which I grant you was an absurd one--was to the effect that
he had persuaded you to run away and marry him; and that you had