He easily found the street and number which Edith had given him, and, to his joy, the name of the woman he sought was on the door.
A portly matron, richly dressed, but with a very shrewd face, answered his ring, and greeted him with suave politeness.
"Yes, she remembered Giulia Fiorini," she remarked, in answer to his inquiry. "She was a pretty Italian girl who had run away from her own country, wasn't she? Would the gentleman kindly walk in? and she would willingly respond to any further questions he might wish to ask."
Roy followed her into a handsomely-furnished parlor, that was separated from another by elegant portieres, which, however, were closely drawn, thus concealing the room beyond.
"Yes," madam continued, "the girl had a child—a boy—a fine little fellow, whom she called Ino, and she did remember that a gentleman visited them occasionally—the girl's brother, cousin, or some other relation, she believed"—with a look of perplexity that would lead one to infer that such visits had been so rare she found it difficult to place the gentleman at all.
"No, she did not even know his name, and she had never heard him admit that the girl was his wife—certainly not!—nor the child call him father or papa. There had always been something mysterious about Giulia, but she had appeared to have plenty of money, and had paid her well, and thus she had not concerned herself about her private affairs."
Roy's heart grew cold and heavy within him as he listened to these suave and evasive replies to his every question.
It was evident to him that she had already received instructions what to say in the event of such a visit, and was paid liberally to carry them out.
He spent nearly an hour with her trying to make her contradict or commit herself in some way, but she never once made a mistake; her answers were very pat and to the point, and he knew no more when he arose to leave than he had known when he entered the house.
He was very heavy-hearted—indeed, a feeling of despair began to settle down upon him; for, unless he could prove that Emil Correlli had taken Giulia Fiorini to that house, and lived with her there as her husband, he felt that he had very little to hope for regarding his future with Edith.