Parlous Times: A Novel of Modern Diplomacy

by David Dwight Wells

"And hasn't her husband challenged you to a duel on her account?"

"Yes."

"And didn't he, moreover, catch you in the act of proposing to Miss Fitzgerald?"

"Yes."

"And haven't you asked the Marchioness for Lady Isabelle's hand?"

"Yes."

"And in the face of all this—you attempt to deny——"

"In the face of all this—circumstantial evidence—I'm quite prepared to deny everything. Would you like to hear the facts of the case?"

"Rather!"

As will have been inferred, the two men had the smoking-room entirely to themselves, and the best part of an hour passed before the Secretary had finished his account of events with which the reader is familiar.