"
"Very well, then; I'll tell you what I suspect. When Iris is at home,
and when there's something amiss in my family, I believe that scoundrel
Lord Harry to be at the bottom of it. There's my experience, and
there's my explanation. I was on the point of ordering my carriage, to
go to the doctor myself, and insist on knowing what the attraction is
that takes my daughter to his house, when I heard your voice in the
hall. You tell me you are interested in Iris. Very well; you are just
the man to help me."
"May I ask how, Mr. Henley?"
"Of course you may. You can find your way to her confidence, if you
choose to try; she will trust you, when she won't trust her father. I
don't care two straws about her other secrets; but I do want to know
whether she is, or is not, plotting to marry the Irish blackguard.
Satisfy me about that, and you needn't tell me anything more. May I
count on you to find out how the land lies?"
Mountjoy listened, hardly able to credit the evidence of his own
senses; he was actually expected to insinuate himself into the
confidence of Iris, and then to betray her to her father! He rose, and
took his hat--and, without even the formality of a bow, opened the
door.
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