When Larry had first entered, she
had merely given him an unsurprised "good-evening" and permitted him
to pass on. But now, as he told her good-night and turned to leave,
she said in her thin, monotonous voice:
"Sit down for a minute, Larry. I want to talk to you."
Larry obeyed. "Yes, grandmother."
But the Duchess did not at once speak. She held her red-rimmed,
unblinking eyes on him steadily. Larry waited patiently. Though she
was so composed, so self-contained, Larry knew her well enough to know
that what was passing in her mind was something of deep importance, at
least to her.
At length she spoke. "You saw Maggie that night you hurried away from
here?"
"Yes, grandmother. Have you heard from her since the?--or from Barney
or Old Jimmie?"
The Duchess shook her head. "Do you mind telling me what happened that
night--and what Maggie's doing?"
Larry told her of the scene in Maggie's suite at the Grantham, told of
the plan in which Maggie was involved and of his own added
predicament. This last the Duchess seemingly ignored.
"Just about what I supposed she was doing," she said. "And you tried
again to get her to give it up?"
"Yes."
"And she refused?"
"Yes." And he added: "Refused more emphatically than before."
The Duchess studied him a long moment.
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