"But for you," she said, "but for your unwarrantable interference I should never have been placed in this hateful, this impossible, position.

I should have been with my friends in London.

It would have been my wedding-day." The attack was plainly unexpected.

Even Caryl was taken by surprise.

But the next moment he was ready for her.
"Then by all means," he said, "let me take you to your friends in London.