"Nothing," he answered. "As things are at present, they are
better apart. Coming my way?"
Tavernake followed him out of the place. Pritchard took his arm
as he turned down toward the Strand.
"My young friend," he said, "here is a word of advice for you.
The Scriptures say that you cannot serve God and mammon.
Paraphrase that to the present situation and remember that you
cannot serve Elizabeth and Beatrice."
"What then?" Tavernake demanded.
The detective waited until he had lit the long black cigar
between his teeth.
"I guess you'd better confine your attentions to Beatrice," he
concluded."
CHAPTER XXII
DINNER WITH ELIZABETH
The rest of that day was for Tavernake a period of feverish
anxieties. He received two telegrams from Mr. Martin, his
solicitor, and he himself was more uneasy than he cared to admit.
At three o'clock in the afternoon, at eight in the evening, and
again at eleven o'clock at night, he presented himself at the
Milan Court, always with the same inquiry. On the last occasion,
the hall porter had cheering news for him.
"Mrs. Wenham Gardner returned from the country an hour ago, sir,"
he announced. "I can send your name up now, if you wish to see
her."
Tavernake was conscious of a sense of immense relief. Of course,
he had known that she had not really gone away for good, but all
the same her absence, especially after the event of the night
before last, was a little disquieting.
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