"Too bad," he muttered, but Clavering cut him short. "I want the truth. What took Mary to New York?" "Surely she explained in her letter." "She explained nothing. There's some mystery here and I want it cleared up at once." "By God! I'll tell you!" Mr. Dinwiddie burst out. "Mary exacted no promise--I suppose she took for granted I'd not tell you, for she told me what she had written. But if she had I'd tell you anyhow. I'd rather break a promise to a woman than lie to a friend. Believe men should stand by one another. She went down there this morning to meet Hohenhauer." "Hohenhauer!" Clavering's face turned almost black. "Yes. Trent telegraphed me yesterday that Hohenhauer was arriving at Huntersville last night and would come up here in the morning to see Mary. He said the matter was most important. I went to Mary's room after you came in from the lake and showed her the message. She was extremely annoyed and said at first that she wouldn't see him. But I pointed out that she couldn't possibly avoid it. Then she said he shouldn't come up here, and she was very emphatic about it. The only thing to do was to take her down. Of course you will be reasonable and see there was nothing else to be done." "What did that infernal blackguard want of her? And why did she go off with him?" "She didn't go off with him. She hired a car directly after lunch intending to drive as far as Saratoga and take a train from there. She left Hohenhauer to cool his heels until it was time to take the local for the Adirondack Express. She could easily have taken him along, but I think she was meting out punishment." "Punishment?" "Yes. They had a private conference for nearly two hours, and, whatever happened, it put her in an infernally bad humor. She scarcely opened her mouth during luncheon, and as Mary is a woman of the world, used to concealing her feelings, I thought it highly significant. She looked as if she were in a secret frozen rage. Hohenhauer, however, was quite himself, and the meal--corned beef and cabbage!--went off very well." "What did he want of her?" "Of that I haven't the vaguest idea. Something momentous, beyond a doubt. If I may hazard a guess, it has something to do with this special mission of his, and it is quite possible that he has asked her to go to Washington--insisted upon it--appealing to her love of Austria. I confess I don't see what she can accomplish there, for she never did have any Washington connections--of course she could get letters from Trent and trust to her personal power and prestige. But let me tell you that she didn't do it to please him. She looked as if she hated him." "Is he still in love with her? Are you sure he didn't come here to ask her to marry him?" "If he did he had his journey for his pains--although I can see that it would be a highly desirable combination from his point of view. But he's not in love with her. I'll stake all I know of men on that."