"I'll be hanged if I see it! He says the parties have gone, and that
he is in close attendance; yet this fellow here," pointing to the
clerk, "assures us she is in this very house. I don't understand it,
by Gad!"
"There is some fresh trick, my lord, you may be sure. The devil
himself isn't half so clever as this fine lady. But we'll get at the
bottom of it. We shall hear more from Tiler, and we've got the lady
here, under our hand."
"Ah! but have we? This chap's as likely as not to be mistaken. How do
you know, sir," to the clerk, "that Mrs. Blair is still in the hotel?
When did you come on duty? What if she left without your knowing it?"
"It could not be, milord. See, it is marked in the register. No. 17 is
occupied. I could not let it. Mrs. Blair holds it still."
"But she may not be in it, all the same. Can't you see? She may retain
it, but not use it."
"Look, my lord, look, there's one of her party, anyway," interposed
Falfani, and he called his attention to a female figure standing a
little aloof in the shadow of the staircase, and which I had already
recognized.
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