He sprang to his feet abruptly, as if he had been stung.

“Who told you I had a secret?” he asked, in a stifled voice.

“Some one.”

“Is it impossible that ‘some one’ should lie?”

“Tell me it is so, and I will believe you.”

Dead silence.

“Do you hear me, Colonel Dacre?”

“Yes, I hear you, Lady Gwendolyn.”

“Then answer something,” she added, in an impatient tone.

Again he was mute.