De Stancy replied in the affirmative.
‘Did you wait long?’ she continued.
‘Not very long,’ he answered, his instinct to screen the possibly guilty one confining him to guarded statements, while still adhering to the literal truth.
‘Why was that?’
‘Somebody came and told me that he would not appear.’
‘Who?’
‘A young man who has been acting as his clerk. His name is Dare. He informed me that Mr. Somerset could not keep the appointment.’
‘Why?’
‘He had gone on to San Remo.’
‘Has he been travelling with Mr. Somerset?’