His eye was arrested by the slender back of a woman who sat at a
table alone drinking champagne. She was so simply dressed that she
was far more noticeable than if she had crowned herself with jewels.
His lunch arrived at the moment, and it was not until he had
satisfied his usual morning appetite that he remembered the woman and
glanced her way again. Two men were sitting at her table, apparently
endeavoring to engage her in conversation. They belonged to the type
loosely known as men about town, of no definite position, but with
money to spend and a turn for adventure.
It was equally apparent that they received no response to their
amiable overtures, for they shrugged their shoulders in a moment,
laughed, and went elsewhere. More than one woman sat alone and these
were amenable enough. They came for no other purpose.
Holt paid his account and strolled over to the table. When he took
one of the chairs he was shocked but not particularly surprised to
see that the woman was Mrs. Talbot. The town had rung with her story
all winter, and he had heard several months since that she had
obtained money in some way and left her husband. The report was that
Dr. Talbot had traced her to lodgings on the Plaza, but she had not
only refused to return to him but to tell him where she had obtained
her funds.
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