"The question I want to ask is this," said Courtney: "Will you not tell
us when and where you became the wife of Armand Dalberg?"
"Yes, Monsieur, and gladly--and I thank you for the thought. I was
married to Armand Dalberg--then a Major in the American Army--on the
twenty-first day of last December in the City of New York."
(That was only two months before I had sailed for Valeria; and I had
been in New York that very day.)
"And by whom, pray?" I exclaimed.
"By the official you provided," was the curt reply. Then, to Courtney,
she added: "I don't recall his name but my certificate shows it, I
suppose."
"And you have the certificate with you?" he asked.
"It is somewhere among my luggage. If you care to see it I shall try
to find it to-morrow."
"Thank you, Madame," Courtney answered.
Then Lotzen took a hand.
"Will Madame permit me, also, to ask her a question?" he said.
"Certainly, Your Highness," she answered, and would have curtsied had
he not waved her up.
"Was the marriage secret?" he asked.