"Your money? I thought you had only fifty francs?"
"The money due to me, I should say. Fifty thousand francs." The Captain unconsciously assumed an air of some importance as he mentioned this sum. "So I was bound to pursue friend Paul," he ended.
"It was dangerous?"
"Oh, no, no," he murmured. "Coming back, though, was rather difficult," he continued. "The carriage was very heavy, and we had some ado to—"
"The carriage! What carriage?" she cried with eagerness.
"Oddly enough, I found a lady travelling—from Sasellano, I understood; and I had the privilege of aiding her to cross the ford." Dieppe spoke with a calculated lightness.
"A lady—a lady from Sasellano? What sort of a lady? What was she like?"
The Captain was watching her closely. Her agitation was unmistakable. Did she know, did she suspect, anything?
"She was tall, dark, and dignified in appearance. She spoke slowly, with a slight drawl—"
"Yes, yes!"