--Understand?"
"I don't understand--but I'll do as you direct," she murmured.
"I want to present you to Mrs. Spencer--the woman whom, you will recall,
I asked you in the red-room if you recognized. Be careful, she is of the
enemy--and particularly dangerous."
"Everyone seems to be dangerous except myself," she replied. "I'm an
imbecile, or a child in arms."
"_I'm_ not dangerous to you," he answered.
"That, sir, remains to be proven."
"And I like your idea of the child in arms--provided it's my arms," he
whispered.
Her reply was a reproving glance from her brown eyes and a shake of the
head.
"I'm delighted to meet you, Mrs. Clephane," Mrs. Spencer greeted, before
Harleston could say a word. She made place on the divan and drew Mrs.
Clephane down beside her. "You're Robert Clephane's widow, are you not?"
"Robert Clephane was, I believe, a distant cousin," Mrs. Clephane
responded. "De Forrest Clephane was my husband. Did you know him, Mrs.
Spencer?"
"I did not. _Robert_--" with the faintest stress on the name--"was the
only Clephane I knew. A nice chap, Mrs. Clephane; though, since you're
not his widow, I must admit that he was a bit gay--a very considerable
bit indeed."
"We heard tales of it," Mrs.
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