'Perhaps you can tell me where he is now.'
'I wish I could. It would be a weight off my mind. He's booked to open at Manchester next week, and I want to see him to make arrangements. That Sunday morning he went to the York Hotel. There he engaged a private sitting-room, in which he had an interview, by appointment, with Mr. John Smith. After Mr. Smith went he had dinner.'
'Did he?'
'He did; and a good one, too--from what I hear. He stayed at the York Hotel all day; he slept there that night.'
'How could he! And I sat up half the night hoping and longing for him to come home.'
'He left very early the next morning, without leaving word where he was going; and where he did go is what I want to know.'
'How do you know all this?'
'It's no secret. I happened to mention, in the hearing of the young lady behind the bar, that I couldn't make out what had become of Babbacombe, and she said that he'd slept there one night. Then the boss told me all there was to tell.'
'Who is this Mr. Smith James had the interview with?'
'That's another thing I want to know; and that's why I asked if you knew. The first time I saw him was on the Thursday--the twenty-eighth day of your husband's sleep. When he caught sight of your governor he turned quite queer.'