She, left alone, unable to turn to me for guidance, determined not to go; afraid to defy him--more afraid, no doubt, because she could no longer produce the necklace--had played a neat trick.

She must have sent a message to the duke that she would come with her mother immediately that the necessary preparations could be made; she had then written a note to her mother to tell her that she had gone in the duke's carriage and looked to her mother to follow her.

And having thus thrown both parties on a false scent, she had put on her hat and walked quietly out of the hotel.

But, then, where had she walked to?
My chain of inference was broken by that missing link.

I looked up at the waiter.