At the same time it was small consolation to think that it was only due to Willy that he was not at this very moment being ignominiously humiliated without having any defence.
The carriage turned in at the small ‘in-and-out’ drive in front of the Villa in St. John’s Wood..
Then, as the horses came to an abrupt standstill, the Marquis was aware that there was another carriage in front blocking the entrance to the front door.
For a moment he thought that it must be his own carriage that had brought Dolly back from the theatre.
Then he realised that it was long after midnight. By this time the coachman, unless she had been somewhere else first, would have taken it round to the Mews at the back of the house.
Curious to know what had happened, he opened the carriage door himself and steppe
