“Where was it?”
“Entering the hall where a bal masque was being held—quite a large affair.”
“Alone?” breathlessly.
“No—with a lady. Good heavens! Mrs. Leslie, take it calmly, I beg of you!”
CHAPTER VI
MARIAN
He need not have been so alarmed.
True, the blood seemed to leave Lillian’s face, and she gasped for breath, but a moment later she appeared so calm that even the detective was amazed.
His admiration increased, for he saw this woman was no pretty doll, to faint at the first breath of adversity.
“Do you know this as a fact, Mr. Darrell?” she asked in steady tones.
“I do not, positively, and I think we ought to give Joe the benefit of the doubt.”