“No,” agreed Selden slowly, “I wouldn’t want that. I must be free to use whatever I find out, if I think it necessary.”
“I understand, and you are right,” she nodded, and glanced at her watch. “Come, we must be going. This dinner is a most important one for me. I must dress for it carefully.”
“Do you know who will be there?”
“The king, Danilo, Lappo, yourself, myself, and—two or three other women.”
“Madame Ghita, perhaps?” hazarded Selden, and watched her face.
She could not suppress a little start.
“You know Madame Ghita?”
“She was enquiring for the prince at the Sporting Club last night. I happened to hear her.”
“Ah,” said the countess; “then of course you can guess who she is!”
“Yes, I suppose so,” said Selden slowly, with a little sinking of the heart. He had hoped against hope that there might be some other explanation. Ah, well, if she were Danilo’s mistress that ended it.