"But I couldn't. How could I?" Her eyes sought Barnard's.
"Oh yes!" he cried. "I knew it!—I knew it! We have frightened you off!"
She flushed uncomfortably.
"It isn't that!" she cried in distress. "You know it isn't that!" Involuntarily she turned to Lord Deerehurst; but in the dim light she detected a smile on his pale, cold face.
With a sudden change of emotion, self-reliance came to her.
"Where does Lady Frances Hope live?" she asked in a careless voice.
Barnard was studying her intently.
"She has apartments in the Palazzo Ugochini," he said. "Quite close at hand."
For a moment Clodagh looked fixedly in front of her; then her lips closed suddenly, and she raised her head.
"Very well!" she said shortly. "Take me to the Palazzo Ugochini—just to prove that you were wrong."