* It will be borne in mind that I am writing these actual
pages, afterwards, at Verona, amplifying the rough notes in
my diary. M. O.
A sudden clattering, nerve-shaking, strident peal at the front-door bell.
I flew down the stairs. It was news of Carlotta. It was Carlotta herself brought back to me. My heart swelled with joy as if it would burst. I knew that as I opened the door Carlotta would fall laughing, weeping, sobbing into my arms.
I opened the door. It was only a police officer in plain clothes.
“Sir Marcus Ordeyne?”
“Yes.”
“We have traced the young lady all right. She left London by the two-twenty Continental express from Victoria with Mr. Sebastian Pasquale.”
CHAPTER XVIII
November 1st.