“No. She remained at Pleasantglades in the care of a chaperon. She did the entertaining for both of us.�
“It occurs to me, also, that I saw something in the papers at the time—some time during the summer, relative to your being very ill while you were abroad.â€�
“Yes; that is unfortunately quite true. I was traveling in Switzerland at the time I was taken ill.�
“You were traveling alone at the time, were you?�
“I had my man with me—my valet. He was also seized with the same malady, and he died of it, poor fellow.â€�
“Oh, yes; I remember about that now. You were at a mountain inn, or something of the sort at the time, as I remember the account. What was the malady? What was the trouble?�
“We were poisoned by something that we had eaten, but whether it was at table, or during one of our wandering expeditions, I never did know. But it was awful while it lasted. The regular old-fashioned cramps, you know, and all that. There were some hours when I thought I was to die, also. It was then that I cabled to my daughter. I suppose that is how the news about it got into the papers over here.�
“How long was your valet ill, before he died?�
“Let me see—I was suffering so myself that I scarcely remember much about the duration of time. It was morning—about ten o’clock when we were taken with the cramps, and at precisely the same moment, too, strange to say. I think it must have been about three, that afternoon, when Thomas died. He was a great loss to me.â€�
“You say you were at an inn? Wasn’t there something about being seized with illness while in the mountains, and finding your way to the inn afterward alone?�