I was about to retort hotly that I had not requested their chaperonage, and that my affair with My Lady and the Big Tent, howsoever they might take it, was my own; when Mr. Brady, who likewise had been glaring at me, growled morosely.
“She’s waitin’ for you. You can square with us later, and if there’s something doin’ on the table we want a show.”
The black-clad figure had lingered beyond; ostensibly gazing into a window but now and again darting a glance in our direction. I accepted the glances as a token of inclination on her part; without saying another word to my ruffled body-guards I approached her.
She received me with a quick turn of head as if not expecting, but with a ready smile.
“Well, sir?”
“Madam,” I uttered foolishly, “good-evening.” 84
“You have left your friends?”
“Very willingly. Whether they are really my friends I rather question. They have seen fit to escort me about, is all.”
“And I have rescued you?” She smiled again. “Believe me, sir, you would be better off alone. I know the gentlemen. They have been paid for their trouble, have they not?”
“They have won a little at gambling, but in that I had no hand,” I replied. “So far they have asked nothing more.”