"Madame, your celebrity----"
"Tell me the truth, please."
"Well, it was your name."
"As a celebrity?"
"No, as the lady who used Mrs. Dacre's house as the means of introducing Clara Trall to Mrs. Carson."
"Ah, so you know of that. You have been making inquiries. Why?"
"Because Clara has turned out badly, and has gone off to Italy with her mistress's husband."
"Quite so; I know it."
"From Major Semberry, I presume. Is he, too----"
"He is----what I please," answered Mrs. Arne with an odd look. "We will speak of him another time. So you are the man who is in love with Mrs. Carson! Oh, don't trouble to deny it. I know it. You made inquiries about me from Mrs. Dacre--on her behalf. A man does not take up a woman's burden--not a burden of this kind--unless he has something more than a platonic interest in her welfare."