He went out to meet him and, ushering him into the bungalow, pointed to a chair. “Sit down. Colonel,” he said gravely. “What I have to tell you will take a little time.”
Colonel Hilary was a handsome man and by no means looked his age. Not a few times in his life had it been said of him that he looked every inch a soldier and a gentleman, and he sat now, erect and straight as a dart, and with his pleasant, kindly face clouded over with a rather puzzled frown.
Mason began very solemnly. “I have some unpleasant news for you, Colonel Hilary,” he said, “and I am sorry to have to be the one to tell it to you.” He bent forward and went on very slowly. “Are you aware that when you married your present wife she was not a single girl, but a widow? She had been married before, barely eighteen mont
