Page:The Unspeakable Gentleman (IA unspeakablegent00marq).pdf/61

 What drama is complete without a lady in it? It would have been simpler, I admit, if Thad stolen the paper, per se, and not the lady with it. The lady, I fear, is becoming an encumbrance."

"Am I to understand you brought a woman with you across the ocean?"

He placed the pistol on the table before him, looked at it critically, and changed its position.

"A lady, my son, not a woman, You will find that the two are quite different species. I fear she had but little choice. That is a pretty lock on Mr. Lawton's weapon."

"You mean she is here now?" I persisted. He must surely have been in jest.

"To be sure!" he acquiesced. "She is, I trust, asleep in the east guest room, and heaven help you if you wake her. But why do you start, my son, does it seem odd to you that I should act as squire?"

"Not in the least," I assured him. "I am only astonished that she should consent to accompany,you. You say, sir, that she is a lady?"

"At least," he replied, "I am broadening your education. That in itself, Henry, quite repays me for any trouble I may have taken—but I fear you are putting a bad con-