"I rather think, ma'am," said Ireland, "that Lord Derrington will want to talk to you."
"At present I say nothing," was his lordship's reply, and he watched the two faces before him with close attention.
"You saw me unmask in a certain box," said Mrs. Ward, quickly. "Do you mean to say that after all these years--over thirty years--that you recognize me again? I was a girl then; I am a--a----" She was about to say old woman, as being more emphatic with the adjective, but her vanity made her swallow the word. "I am a woman now."
"Quite so. But you have a mole on your forehead just above the left eyebrow. I knew you by that; and then I have a splendid memory for faces, and yours--" Ireland bowed gallantly--"is too beautiful to forget easily."
Mrs. Ward shrugged her shoulders. She did not want compliments, but she wished very much to get out of the trouble in which she found herself involved. "It's a most remarkable memory," she said.
"It is, madam," assented Ireland; "my memory was always considered remarkable. And the fact is that I was thinking of the murder almost at the moment I entered the hall. Consequently your face was in my mind's eye. That made the chance of recognizing you more sure. Had I not been thinking of old days I might not have guessed so readily who you were."
"Why were you thinking of the murder, then?" asked Derrington.
"Well, my lord, you sent for me to speak with me about George--" Mrs. Ward gave a short laugh, and Derrington smiled--"so I was naturally thinking of George; such a thought led to my thinking of his parents, and finally I remembered the circumstance of your son's death, as I thought you might wish to talk of it, and therefore desired to get my memory in order. In this way did I recognize the lady."
"This is all very well," said Mrs. Ward. "You say you recognize me, Mr. Ireland. Is that your name?"
"It is, but your memory is not so good as mine. We met only once." Derrington was not so sure if Mrs. Ward's memory was not good, for he remembered how she had tried to get away before the arrival of Ireland. "Go on! Go on!" he said irritably. "I wish to know the worst."