"Sorry, miss, but Captain and Mrs. Burton are not in; they left this hotel four or five days ago and took an apartment of their own."
"You don't mean they are no longer living here?"
To her own ears Bettina's voice sounded more startled than it should. "Then will you be kind enough to give me their new address, as I wish to find them at once."
She thought she saw a faint look of sympathy and regret on the clerk's face.
"Sorry again, but Captain Burton left strict orders their new address was to be given to no one. They do not wish to see strangers. Their friends they intend notifying themselves. Perhaps you want Mrs. Burton to help you to go on the stage, so many young women call on her for this purpose and she has been giving up so much time to them, Captain Burton does not wish her to be disturbed in the future."
Bettina flushed and frowned.
"No, I am not looking for work and I am not a stranger to Mrs. Burton. She and Captain Burton would wish you to tell me where they are living. Mrs. Burton is a kind of relative, or at least she is an intimate friend."
The clerk smiled.
"That is what everyone says. I regret not being able to oblige you, but orders are orders."
As if Bettina were no longer demanding his attention he turned to some one who had been waiting and was now inquiring for a room.