"
"Then I can count on you," said Clarence, with a sudden impulse
extending his hand.
The man hesitated a moment and then grasped it.
"Well, I wasn't expecting that," he said slowly; "but you look as if you
meant business, and if you ain't got anybody else to see you through,
I'm thar! I suppose this gentleman will have his friends."
"I shall be there at six with my seconds," said Pinckney curtly. "Lead
on."
The gate closed behind them. Clarence stood looking around the empty
patio and the silent house, from which it was now plain that the
servants had been withdrawn to insure the secrecy of the conspiracy.
Cool and collected as he knew he was, he remained for a moment in
hesitation. Then the sound of voices came to his ear from the garden
room, the light frivolity of Susy's laugh and Hooker's huskier accents.
He had forgotten they were there--he had forgotten their existence!
Trusting still to his calmness, he called to Hooker in his usual
voice. That gentleman appeared with a face which his attempts to make
unconcerned and impassive had, however, only deepened into funereal
gravity.
"I have something to attend to," said Clarence, with a faint smile, "and
I must ask you and Susy to excuse me for a little while.
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