“From Lord Warnham! Then you have told him!”
“Of course,” I responded.
In contemplative silence he slowly blew a great cloud of smoke from his lips. Then he said, “There is one thing you haven’t told me, Geoffrey. What was the name of this pretty Russian who made these mysterious allegations against Ella?”
“Her name was Sonia Korolénko.”
“Sonia Korolénko!” he cried in a voice strangely hoarse, halting and glaring at me with wide-open, staring eyes. “Sonia! And she has gone, you say?”
“Yes. She has returned to Russia, I believe. But what do you know of her?” I quickly inquired.
“Nothing. I merely know her by repute as a notorious woman, that’s all,” he answered. “You were certainly wise to discard her allegations.”
“Is she such a well-known person?” I asked.
“I should rather think so,” he answered, elevating his eyebrows. “Her fame has spread all over the Continent. She was leader of a certain circle of questionable society in Vienna a year ago, and narrowly escaped falling into the hands of the police.”
“But what can have induced Ella to associate with her?” I exclaimed in wonderment.