Red Masquerade by Louis Joseph Vance
page 38 of 287 (13%)
page 38 of 287 (13%)
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then inevitably will be betrayed. Depend upon envy, jealousy, spite, or
plain venal disloyalty, if accident or inadvertence fail, to lay the law-breaker by the heels. Therefore (Diantha argued) the Lone Wolf must be a confirmed solitary and misogynist--very much like this Monsieur Lanyard, according to reports which declared the latter to be a man who kept to himself, had many acquaintances and not one intimate, and was positively insulated against wiles of woman. But--granting all this--it was none the less true that the utmost diligence, spurred by the pique, ill-will, and ambition of the police of all Europe, had failed as yet to forge any link between the supercriminal of the age and the distinguished connoisseur of art. Other than Lady Diantha and the gossips whose arguments she was retailing, never a soul (so far as Sofia knew) had ventured to breathe a breath of suspicion upon the good repute of Monsieur Lanyard. In short, Diantha's conjectures had been entirely second-hand, and not even meant to be taken seriously. And yet the suggestion had fastened firm hold upon the imagination of the Princess Sofia. If it were true ... what an adventure! There was unaccustomed light of daring in the eyes of the princess, unwonted colour tinted her cheeks. The hansom stopped, discharged the fairest fare it had ever carried, and |
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