“Are you ‘busy’”? said Bruce.
“Not a bit. By-bye, Jack. See you at luncheon to-morrow at the Gorgonzola. Well, what is it?”
“I want you to come with me to the ‘Duke’s.’ There’s a young lady there I’m interested in.”
Billy squeezed round in the hansom, which was now bowling across a corner of Trafalgar Square.
“You,” he cried. “After a girl! Is she in the profession? Is mamma frightened about her angel? The correct figure for a breach just now, my boy, is five thou’.”
“Oh, it’s nothing serious. I will tell you all about it when matters have cleared a bit. It is a mere item in a really big story. But, here we are. Take me straight to the supper-room.”
As they entered the comfortable, brightly lit club the strains of a band came pleasantly to their ears, and in a minute they were installed at a corner table in the splendid room devoted to the most cheery of all gatherings—a Bohemian meal when the labors of the night are past.
Bruce soon marked his quarry. Jane Harding was in great form—eating, drinking, and talking at the same time.
“Who is that, Billy?” he said, indicating the girl.
Sadler carefully balanced his pince-nez on his well-defined nose, gazed, and laughed: “Goodness knows. She’s a new-comer, and not much at the best. Do you know where she carries a banner?”