The old woman made a slight, shivering gesture. "You should have
gone to my sister in Grosvenor Square. Monte would have put you
up - and looked after you."

"The Ritz put me up very well," the girl continued. "And I am
accustomed to looking after myself. Sir Henry thought it was
quite all right."

The old woman spoke suddenly with energy and directness. "I
don't understand Henry in the least," she said. "I was quite
willing for you to go to London when he asked me for permission.
But I thought he would take you to Monte's, and certainly I had
the right to believe that he would not have lent himself to - to
this escapade."

"He seemed to be very nice about it," the girl went on. "He came
in to tea with us - Mr. Meadows and me - almost every evening.
And he always had something amusing to relate, some blunder of
Scotland Yard or some ripping mystery. I think he found it
immense fun to be Chief of the Criminal Investigation Department.
I loved the talk: Mr. Meadows was always interested and Sir Henry
likes people to be interested."

The old woman continued to regard the girl as one hesitatingly
touches an exquisite creature frightfully mangled.

"This person - was he a gentleman?" she inquired. The girl
answered immediately. "I thought about that a good deal," she
said. "He had perfect manners, quite Continental manners; but,