The young nobleman proceeded with his story. The two women were staying at one of the less expensive hotels in the place; he gathered that the mother was a widow, and had been left an income that was comfortable, but not large, that enabled her and her daughter to enjoy life in a moderate and modest way. He first made their acquaintance at the tables, where the young woman occasionally risked a few francs. The mother never played. Wraysbury made no secret of the fact that the girl interested him very considerably; she was clever, bright, amusing, and also beautiful. He was never at any moment seriously in love with her. The fact that she was a mere casual acquaintance, of whose antecedents he knew nothing, forbade any such happening. But in the free and easy atmosphere of Monte Carlo the acquaintance ripened considerably. Possibly onlookers might have considered it an obvious flirtation on both sides. All the time he was perfectly heart-whole, and he felt pretty certain that the young woman was in the same condition. He took her to dinner on a few occasions, and every time the mother was present. He bought Miss Glenthorne flowers and chocolates, nothing of a more expensive nature, and no letters, not even the briefest note, had ever passed between them. There had never been the slightest attempt on his part at love-making. His reasons for this attitude were perfectly honourable ones, as he explained to the detective. Everybody knew that he had come into possession of a considerable fortune, and that he was a more than usually eligible person from a matrimonial point of view. He was too modest to flatter himself that he had any special attractions for women, but his money was bound to have. Miss Glenthorne appeared to him then to be a well-conducted, modest girl, but no doubt, like the majority of women, she was anxious to settle herself well in life. Under such circumstances, it would have been conduct little short of dastardly if he had led her to entertain false hopes of becoming Lady Wraysbury. “It was just a most agreeable acquaintance, nothing more,” concluded the young man as he finished this portion of his story. In due course Wraysbury left Monte Carlo, and said good-bye to the two women. There was nothing of a sentimental nature in their parting, no reference to further meetings in the future. He learned that they did not visit Monte Carlo frequently, and they very seldom came to England. He thought it extremely improbable that he would ever come across the couple again. In due course the memory of the dark, handsome girl faded away from his active recollections. Then one day, as Grewgus already had learned from Lydon, he met the young woman at the _Ritz_, after this considerable period. She was accompanied by a smart-looking man, whom she introduced as her husband by the fairly common name of Edwards. She pressed him warmly to call at their house in Curzon Street, an invitation which was heartily seconded by the husband.