“I have reasons for asking it, Mrs. Cullerton,” was my reply. “I have called here as your friend, remember.”
“But all this is most bewildering,” she exclaimed with a nervous little laugh. “Why should I be in any personal peril?”
“Because you know something to the detriment of that wealthy and somewhat eccentric man,” I replied. “Pardon me if I put another question to you. Are you acquainted with a girl named Gabrielle Engledue?”
“Gabrielle Engledue?” she repeated. “No, I have never heard the name. I know a Gabrielle—Gabrielle Tennison—an old schoolfellow of mine.”
“A tall, dark-haired girl?”
“Yes, she is rather tall, and dark-haired.”
“Isn’t her real name Engledue?” I asked quickly.
“Not to my knowledge.”
“Is she not Mr. De Gex’s niece?”
“He has no niece, has he?—except, of course, Lady Shalford, whom I know quite well.”