“What carriage was it—an open one?”

“No, sir. The big coupé.”

“Did you speak to Isabel, or did she address any word to you at that time?”

“No. I think not. I was so surprised, so disturbed, and I will confess, sir, so angry, that I do not remember much about the circumstance, only that Miss Mercedes was going away without me, and that she bade me good-by so coldly that it almost broke my heart.”

“So, as a matter of fact, you do not really know that Isabel was in the coupé at all?”

“Why, yes, I do.”

“Well, how do you know it? That is what I want to find out.”

“Why, who else would be there if she was not?”

“Exactly; who else, indeed?”

“I don’t know what you mean by that, sir?”