"Is it?"
"Yes."
"So much the better, for your absence would be sadly missed at the ball."
"You misunderstand me, Harvey; I shall not go."
Dick looked frightened.
"Don't say that, Mr. Mole, I beg, don't; it would be dangerous."
"What on earth do you mean?"
"I mean that this lady is English by birth, but she has lived in the land of the Borgias, where they yet know how to use poison."
"Harvey!"
"And if her love were slighted, she might recollect it."