“To my horror I heard that man whom I supposed to be you, call that dark-haired lady at the masquerade by that name.”
“Marian?”
“Yes. You can imagine the awful feelings it aroused within me; the whole thing seemed so plain that I was appalled. Joe Leslie dropped from the high place he held in my esteem and at that time I almost hated you.”
“I don’t wonder at it, old fellow, and think all the more of you for it.”
“Later on I became vacillating—several things occurred that broke me up completely, among others the statement made by your driver.”
“How was that?”
“He declared you were down town all the evening and to prove it stated that he had talked with an officer I know just at midnight.”
“Yes, I remember.”
“I proved this true, and that aroused my suspicions for the first time. If you were down town you could not be at the bal masque at the same minute—for it was a few minutes before midnight that the melee occurred and the man I thought to be you floored his assailants.”
“I see. I must hunt up this Joe Lester and discover who and what he is. Perhaps we have been playing the two Dromios again.”