"
"Broken bones do not usually prevent one from writing, or dictating, a
letter."
"It _is_ peculiar!" Mrs. Clephane admitted.
"What is the name of the hospital?" the Marquis asked.
"In the hurry and excitement I quite forgot to ask the name," she
replied. "The station officials selected it. I was thinking of
her--Madame Durrand, I mean--more than the name of the hospital. I don't
even know the street; though it's somewhere in the locality of the
station. It is dreadfully stupid of me, your Excellency, not to
know--but I don't."
"We can remedy that very readily," he said, and pressed a button. His
secretary responded. "Telephone our Consul-General in New York to
ascertain immediately from the railroad officials the hospital to which
Madame Durrand, who broke her ankle and wrist in the Pennsylvania
Station, at ten o'clock on Monday, was taken."
The secretary saluted and withdrew.
"Might not our friends the enemy have bribed someone to suppress Madame
Durrand's letter or wire?" Mrs. Clephane asked.
"Very possibly. It is entirely likely that they wouldn't be apt to stop
with the accident."
"You think they were responsible for Madame Durrand's fall?" she
exclaimed.
"Have you forgotten the man who jostled Madame Durrand?" the Marquis
reminded.
Pages:
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172