“A former maid of honour to the late Queen.”
“Her name?”
“Countess Clementine Arselaarts.”
“How did you come to know her?”
“She is a friend of my wife, who made her acquaintance last year when staying in Brussels.”
“And your wife is English?”
“Yes; her maiden name was Irwin.”
At the sound of this name a flood of painful recollections rushed over Heideck’s mind.
“Irwin?” he repeated. “Has the lady by chance any relatives in the British army?”
“I had a brother-in-law, who was a captain in the Indian Lancers. But, according to the news that has reached us, he was killed at the battle of Lahore.”