“Why not?” Zoe exclaimed. “He is nice. She must care for some one. Why do you pity him?”
“They say, too, that she has no more heart than a stone,” Laverick continued, “and that never a man has had even a kind word from her. She is very patriotic, and all the thoughts and love she has to spare from herself are given to her country.”
Zoe shuddered.
“Ah!” she murmured, “I do not like to think of heartless women. Perhaps she is not so cruel, after all. To me she seems only very, very sad. Tell me, Mr. Laverick, why did she send for you?”
“I imagine,” said he, “that it was a whim. It must have been a whim.”
CHAPTER XXI
MADEMOISELLE IDIALE’S VISIT
Laverick, on the following morning, found many things to think about. He was accustomed to lunch always at the same restaurant, within a few yards of his office, and with the same little company of friends. Just as he was leaving, an outside broker whom he knew slightly came across the room to him.
“Tell me, Laverick,” he asked, “what’s become of your partner?”
“He has gone abroad for a few weeks. As a matter of fact, we shall be announcing a change in the firm shortly.”
“Queer thing,” the broker remarked. “I was in Liverpool yesterday, and I could have sworn that I saw him hanging around the docks. I should never have doubted it, but Morrison was always so careful about his appearance, and this fellow was such a seedy-looking individual. I called out to him and he vanished like a streak.”