Lord Hastings shrugged his shoulders.
“You have as much an idea as I have,” was his reply.
The girl arose from her seat as Frank approached. She extended a hand, and, with the air of a true cavalier, Frank bent low over it. Then, as the music struck up, the girl smiled and would have spoken, but Frank forestalled her.
“Will you dance?” he asked.
She nodded; and a moment later they were whirling about the floor in an old-fashioned waltz.
Thus among the crowd there was a certain privacy and Frank was moved to ask:
“And now will you not tell me why you signalled me?”
Instantly the girl became serious, although she continued to smile.
“I must be brief,” she said, “so listen closely. In the first place you are not German. Oh, I knew it the moment you came in,” she said hurriedly, as Frank gave a start. “I wouldn’t have mentioned it, but the young German officer whom I refused to dance with also suspects. He said as much when he noticed me looking at you. He said he would catch you off your guard and force you to betray yourself.”
“But——” Frank started to protest.