"My client is thinking of an adoption."
"Indeed!" she said, really astonished; but the smile that succeeded showed him she was not the dupe of the subterfuge.
"That was the reason he gave me. I suspect, though, that it is rather a question of marriage."
"Very probably," she said, nodding. In measure, as she studied the sly countenance, her assurance had returned. "And what'll you do?"
"Madam," Bofinger said impressively, "I must report what I have discovered."
"And that's what?"
"That I followed Miss Vaughn to a house where she disappeared and Miss Morissey emerged—by a back passage. That Miss Morissey is quite a different character from Miss Vaughn, especially in style," he added, smiling reminiscently. "That Miss Morissey is evidently of the stage, living in a boarding-house, which I happen to know is a resort of actors on their uppers. I shall be forced to describe the contrast in your dress and the destitution of your wardrobe; pardon me, if I am forced to use the word,—deception. This, I say it frankly, is but the beginning of my investigation."
"It's already a good deal, isn't it?" she said thoughtfully.
"You must judge of that, Miss Vaughn."
"Are you sure" she asked with a smile, "quite sure that you'll tell all that?"