I can only suggest that Lord Donal met the Princess herself at the Duchess of Chiselhurst's ball.

The Princess, naturally, would wish to mislead him regarding her identity; and so, if he had not met her for some time--say two years, or three years, or five years, or whatever the period may be--it is quite possible that the Princess has changed greatly in the interval, and perhaps she was not reluctant to carry on a flirtation with the young man--your client.

Of course, she could not allow it to go further than the outside of the door of the Duke of Chiselhurst's town house, for you must remember there was her husband in the background--a violent man, as you have said; and Lord Donal must have thoroughly angered the Princess by what you term his rudeness in tearing off her glove; and now the Princess will never admit that she was at the ball, so it seems to me that you are wasting your time in a wild goose chase.

Why, it is absurd to think, if there had been a real disappearing woman, that you, with all your experience and all your facilities, should not have unearthed her long ago.

You said at the beginning that nothing was more difficult than to disappear.