"
The whistle stopped again. "Madame, for once we agree. I, too,
should like to know why I returned here."
"Carewe," said Fitzgerald, "if you will give me your word--"
"Do not waste your breath, Monsieur," interrupted Madame.
"Will you give me your word?" persisted Fitzgerald, refusing to
see the warning in Madame's eyes.
"I will give you nothing, my lord; nothing. I have said that I
will answer neither one way nor the other. The accusation is too
absurd. Now, Madame, what is your pleasure in regard to my
disposition?"
"You are to be locked up, Monsieur," tartly. "You are too
inquisitive to remain at large."
"My confinement will be of short duration," confidently.
"It rests with my pleasure alone."
"Pardon me if I contradict your Highness. I returned here
incidentally as a representative of the British ambassador in
Vienna; I volunteered this office at the request of my own
minister."
A shade of consternation came into the faces of his audience.
"If nothing is heard of me within two days, an investigation
will ensue. It is very droll, but I am here to inquire into the
whereabouts of one Lord Fitzgerald, who has disappeared.
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