Page:Anthony Hope - The Dolly Dialogues.djvu/63

 the Duchess didn't know any of us; I saw her shake hands with a waiter myself, just to be on the safe side), and an hour after the party began she was discovered wandering about in a most desolate condition. Dolly had told her that she would be in a certain place; and when Miss Phyllis came Dolly was not there. The poor little lady wandered about for another hour, looking so lost that one was inclined to send for a policeman; and then she sat down on a seat by the wall, and, in desperation, asked her next-door neighbour if he knew Lady Mickleham by sight, and had he seen her lately? The next-door neighbour, by way of reply, called out to a quiet elderly gentleman who was sidling unobtrusively about, 'Duke, are there any particularly snug corners in your house?' The Duke stopped, searched his memory, and said that at the end of the Red Corridor there was a passage; and that a few yards down the passage, if you turned very suddenly to the right, you would come on a little nook under the stairs. The little nook just held a settee, and the settee (the Duke thought) might just hold two people. The next-door neighbour thanked the Duke, and observed to Miss Phyllis,—

'It will give me a great pleasure to take you to Lady Mickleham.' So they went, it being then, according to Miss Phyllis's sworn statement, precisely two hours and five minutes since Dolly had disappeared; and pursuing the route indicated by the Duke, they found Lady Mickleham. And Lady Mickleham exclaimed,