CHAPTER XVI
OUR TIME IS NARROWED
I lunched that day with Mary--alone, for her aunts were both in Paris--and it would have been hard to find in the confines of the British islands a more dejected pair. Mary, who had always a singular placid gentleness, showed her discomposure only by her pallor. As for me I was as restless as a bantam.
“I wish I had never touched the thing,” I cried. “I have done more harm than good.”
“You have found Lord Mercot,” she protested.
“Yes, and lost Turpin. The brutes are still three up on us. We thought we had found two, and now we have lost Miss Victor again. And Turpin! They’ll find him an ugly customer, and probably take strong measures with him. They’ll stick to him and the girl and the little boy now like wax; for last night’s performance is bound to m
