"And why such a desire for solitude, Captain Ellerey?" she said, seating herself in a corner and making room for him beside her.
"Not solitude, Countess, but restful companionship. I am not desirous of living perpetually under the eye of Lord Cloverton, and, after what he said, I imagine he watches me pretty closely."
"And is as closely watched," she replied.
"Have you found out anything which affects me?" Ellerey asked after a pause.
She hesitated.
"Not directly."
"Indirectly, then?"
"Perhaps, a little. It is a small matter, but it interested me. It has nothing to do with Sturatzberg, but with England."
Ellerey was silent. Could Lord Cloverton have repeated his story?
"May I know the nature of the—crime is it?—which is imputed to me?"