“My lord,” said the Duke, very smoothly addressing the Earl, “I think perhaps this interview will not suffer by being confined to the two most interested in it.”
He smiled and nodded. Arran, with an answering grimace, expressive at least of as much mental vacuity as understanding, bowed low and withdrew.
The moment they were alone, the Duke turned in his chair, and, crossing his knees and leaning on one arm, bent his melancholy brows on Moll in deliberate scrutiny.
“By she, madam,” he said, “you allude to——?”
Moll laughed shortly.
“O! don’t you know very well?”
“Don’t you know,” he said, “that the young gentleman just left is her brother?”
“Of course I do,” answered Moll, “and that that was why you wanted to shut my mouth.”
He sat regarding her some moments longer, and then a little sombre smile dawned on his face.
“You have a quick understanding, I perceive, Mrs. Davis,” he said. “That may be a profitable or a perilous possession, according as it is employed. I wonder it has never yet led you to realize the supreme asset you have in your voice.”