"I don't quite know where he is. When he last wrote he told me that he was going to take what he called an 'after-cure' in Italy "--she smiled, as if at some thought of her own--"but he entered into no particulars, and until I hear from him again I don't quite know where he's to be found; all I do know is that he's to be home before the first of May."
"As things stand, that's some distance ahead. I believe that his father and mother, the Earl and Countess, are also absent." She nodded. "You say you don't know who was your father's man of business; then who is there to whom you feel yourself entitled to turn for the kind of assistance of which you stand in such imperative need, at once; certainly in the course of to-day?"
"There's Elaine."
"You mean Miss Harding?" It was his turn to smile. "I'm afraid she's not the kind of person I'm thinking of; though I do not for a moment doubt her cleverness. She suffers from one disqualification; she's not a man. What you want is a dependable, and thoroughly capable lawyer."
"There's Mr. Nash."
"Mr. Nash is, again, hardly the sort of person you're in want of. To begin with, he's too young, has too little experience; it was only the other day he qualified--with difficulty."
"He has been qualified more than three years; he did a good many things for papa."
"Yes, but what kind of things? Not the kind which will have to be done for you; and I happen to know that what he did he bungled."
"I believe he's coming here to-day."
"Have you sent for him?"