14/22 "Tut! Tut!" Calhoun nodded, with the same cold, thin smile. "Yes," he said, "I mean Mr.Pakenham's reputed mistress, his assured secret agent and spy, the beautiful Baroness von Ritz!" He mentioned a name then well known in diplomatic and social life, when intrigue in Washington, if not open, was none too well hidden. "You know, his ancestor was a brother-in-law of the Duke of Wellington. He himself seems to have absorbed some of the great duke's fondness for the fair. Before he came to us he was with England's legation in Mexico. |