"I mean: are you sure that you haven't seen her since you left here last night?"
The Austrian's face expressed a bewilderment that Stainton could not mistrust.
"How is that possible?" inquired von Klausen.
"Oh, of course!" Stainton, convinced, shrugged his shoulders. "However, I do want to make a few inquiries of you."
"Then I prefer to wait until your wife descends, so that you may make them in her presence."
Stainton still held in his left hand the letter that Muriel had addressed to him. He tapped it upon the knuckles of his right hand.
"I am afraid," he said, "that I can't conveniently wait so long. Captain von Klausen, are you in love with my wife?"
The Austrian rose precipitately. His blond moustache bristled.
"Sir!" said he.
"I merely wanted to know."