“And you know there has not been a tragedy?”
“Ah! no. There you are quite mistaken. I have no knowledge whatsoever.”
“Only surmise?”
“Only surmise.”
“Based upon what Maud told you—eh?” he asked at last, bringing the conversation to the point.
“What Maud told me has nothing whatever to do with my surmise,” was her quick reply. “It is a surmise, pure and simple.”
“And you have no foundation of fact for it?”
“None, dear.”
Max was disappointed. He sat smoking, staring straight before him. At the tables around, beneath the trees, well-dressed people were chatting and laughing in the dim light, while the military band opposite played the newest waltz. But he heard it not. He was only thinking of how he could clear up the mystery of the strange disappearance of his dearest friend. He glanced at the soft face of the sweet girl at his side, that was so full of affection and yet so sphinx-like.
She would tell him nothing. Again and again she had refused to betray the confidence of her friend.