Page:The Duke Decides (1904).djvu/278

 wrong,” he said calmly. “We were talking of someone not nearly so exalted. Our host is all right—gone away for a few hours by an early train on business. We have found out all about his movements, and I shall be obliged, Mrs. Talmage Eglinton, if you will kindly reassure the other ladies that Beaumanoir’s absence is satisfactorily accounted for.”

“How delighted Miss Sherman will be. I will go and tell them all, at once,” cried the American gaily. And she swept out of the room with an exuberant triumph not lost on those who remained behind.

“Wherever the Duke has gone, and with whatever motive, Mrs. Talmage Eglinton is pleased,” the General mused aloud.

“She will find herself mistaken if she thinks he has gone to play her game,” said Alec Forsyth, staunch as ever to his friend.