CHAPTER XXXIV
MARKED MEN
"CAPTAIN DURNFORD?" I inquired of the hall-porter of the club next morning.
"Not here, sir."
"But he slept here last night," I remarked. "I have an appointment with him."
The man consulted the big book before him, and answered —
"Captain Durnford went out at 9.27 last night, sir, but has not returned."
Strange, I thought, but although I waited in the club nearly an hour, he did not put in an appearance. I called again at noon, and he had not come in, and again at two o'clock, but he had not even then made his appearance.
Then I began to be anxious. I returned to the hotel, resolved to wait for a few hours longer. He might have altered his mind and gone to Eastbourne in search of Muriel; yet, had he done so, he would surely have telegraphed to me.
About four o'clock, as I was passing through the big hall of the hotel, I heard a voice behind me utter a greeting in Italian, and turning in surprise,340
