"Did he object to any that were there?"
"There was a gentleman there whom he did not particularly like, I think, but he made no objection to his coming; in fact, he seemed to feel that I might imagine he had an objection from a little discussion we had about inviting him; and afterwards, as if to make up for that, he placed this guest at his left hand."
Stratton quickly glanced up the page of his notebook, and marked a little cross before the name of Stephen Roland.
"You had another disagreement with him before, if I might term it so, had you not?"
Mrs. Brenton looked at him surprised.
"What makes you think so?" she said.
"Because you hesitated when I spoke of it."
"Well, we had what you might call a disagreement once at Lucerne, Switzerland."
"Will you tell me what it was about?"
"I would rather not."