Geoffrey Falconer held his breath, and remained silent for a few moments.
“But how long has Mr. Mapleton been married?”
“Oh, about four years—not more. He married an English lady—and a very nice lady she is. Once or twice she has bought old furniture here.”
“But Dr. Garcia and his wife have left Madrid,” Geoffrey remarked as they sat together in the dark little shop, surrounded by all sorts of curios.
“Yes. He sold the practice to Dr. Salcedo soon after his marriage, and went away. I don’t know where he is now.”
“But tell me,” urged Geoffrey. “How is it that the lady, being engaged to the banker, married the doctor?”
The old man grinned, while his black eyes twinkled.
“There was a whisper of some scandal. They say that is the reason why the doctor and his wife left Madrid.”
All that was being told to Falconer went to establish the motive why a secret attempt should be made upon Mrs. Mapleton’s life. It was all news to Geoffrey. He had believed that Mapleton had been married fully ten years.
In other quarters he prosecuted inquiries, but the result was always the same—the story of the sudden marriage of the English banker’s Spanish fiancée, and the gossip which ensued.