"But what I am now chiefly anxious to discuss is, how can we save Lady Henry from any further pain or annoyance? She once said to me in a fit of anger that if I left her in consequence of a quarrel, and any of her old friends sided with me, she would never see them again."
"I know," said the Duke, sharply. "Her salon will break up. She already foresees it."
"But why?--why?" cried Julie, in a most becoming distress. "Somehow, we must prevent it. Unfortunately I must live in London. I have the offer of work here--journalist's work which cannot be done in the country or abroad. But I would do all I could to shield Lady Henry."
"What about Mr. Montresor?" said the Duke, abruptly. Montresor had been the well-known Châteaubriand to Lady Henry's Madame Récamier for more than a generation.
Julie turned to him with eagerness.
"Mr. Montresor wrote to me early this morning. The letter reached me at breakfast. In Mrs. Montresor's name and his own, he asked me to stay with them till my plans developed. He--he was kind enough to say he felt himself partly responsible for last night."
"And you replied?" The Duke eyed her keenly.
Julie sighed and looked down.
"I begged him not to think any more of me in the matter, but to write at once to Lady Henry. I hope he has done so."
"And so you refused--excuse these questions--Mrs. Montresor's invitation?"