“There you are, my dear!” said Rupert. “Vidal’s got rid of her, and we may as well go home again before Avon gets wind of the affair.”
Léonie told Mr. Fletcher he might go, and when the door had closed behind him, she turned to Rupert with an expression of great anxiety on her face. “Rupert, it becomes more and more serious!”
“Devil a bit!” said his lordship cheerfully. “You can’t get away from it, the girl’s not with Vidal now, so I don’t see we’ve aught to worry over!”
“But Rupert, you do not understand at all! I have a very big fear that Dominique may have cast her off — in a rage, tu sais.”
Lord Rupert disposed his limbs more comfortably in his chair. “I shouldn’t wonder if he had,” he agreed. “It don’t concern us, thank the Lord!”
Léonie got up, and began to move about the room. “If he has done that it is a crime one does not forgive. I must find her.”
Lord Rupert blinked. “If she ain’t with that precious son of yours what do you want with her now?” he inquired.
“Do you think I will permit my son to abandon a girl in Paris?” Léonie said fiercely. “That is noble, yes! I tell you, I have been alone in a great city and there is nothing I do not know of what may happen to a girl who has no protector.”
“But you said this wench was a — ”
“I may have said it, but that was because I was angry. I do not know what she is, and I will find her immediately. If Dominique has done her a wrong he shall marry her.”