William Le Queux

The Four Faces William Le Queux

Publisher Marketing: Excerpt: ...me to come to London to see you? I don't want to go home, because if I did father and Aunt Hannah and Dulcie would ask questions, and what I want to say to you is quite private. Will you telegraph to me as soon as you get this to say what I can do and where I can see you at once? "Your affectionate brother-in-law-to-be, "DICK." I read the letter through again; then refolded it and put it in a drawer. The letter, I saw by the postmark, had arrived by the last post. What could the boy want to see me about? What could he have to say to me that he wished to keep secret from his family? I could not imagine. Anyway, I would, I decided, gratify him-I was very fond of Dick. Then and there I wrote out a telegram to be sent off early in the morning, telling him that I would come down in the afternoon; I had decided to try to see something of Dulcie during the morning, also to telephone to Holt to inquire for her, though without betraying to Sir Roland or Aunt Hannah that I knew anything of her movements during the previous night. But Sir Roland forestalled me. Shortly after eight o'clock I was awakened by the telephone at my bedside ringing loudly. Still half asleep, I grabbed the receiver and glued it to my ear. "Had I seen anything of Dulcie? Did I know where she was and why she had not returned?" The speaker was Sir Roland, and he spoke from Holt Manor. "Why, isn't she at home?" I asked, controlling my voice. "If she were here I shouldn't ask where she is," Sir Roland answered quite sharply. "Mrs. Stapleton called yesterday afternoon to ask if Dulcie might dine with her in town and go to the theatre. Of course I raised no objection"-Sir Roland in no way shared my suspicion concerning Mrs. Stapleton; on the contrary, she attracted him and he liked her, though Aunt Hannah did not-"and Dulcie dressed and went off at about five o'clock. They were to go to 'The Rook, ' Mrs. Stapleton said, where she would dress, and then they would motor to London. Mrs.... Contributor Bio:  Le Queux, William The author of more than one hundred novels, William Le Queux (1864-1927) was an Anglo-French journalist, diplomat, and outspoken critic of British defense efforts.