Before Percy could think of another excuse, her quick observation detected the disordered condition of his cravat, and discovered the upper edge of a black plaster attached to one side of his neck.
"You have been hurt in the neck!" she said.

"That is why you have kept away from us for the last three days!" "A mere trifle," he answered, in great confusion; "please don't notice it." Her eyes, still resting on his face, assumed an expression of suspicious inquiry, which Percy was entirely at a loss to understand.

Suddenly, she started to her feet, as if a new idea had occurred to her.

"Wait here," she said, flushing with excitement, "till I come back: I insist on it!" Before Percy could ask for an explanation she had left the conservatory.
In a minute or two, Miss Bowmore returned, with a newspaper in her hand.
"Read that," she said, pointing to a paragraph distinguished by a line drawn round it in ink.
The passage that she indicated contained an account of a duel which had recently taken place in the neighborhood of London.

The names of the duelists were not mentioned.