As to facts--what have they to do with it?
You demanded a story, and you got it.

I rather flattered myself that under the circumstances it was not bad." "You admit now, then, that it was not the truth!" "The truth! My dear Sir George! Supposing that the whereabouts of your charming young friend had been known to me, do you suppose that I should have permitted myself to be bullied into disclosing it?
Forgive me if I speak plainly, but if you really wished for information which you supposed that I had, your method of seeking it put you at once out of court.

A French gentleman does not permit himself to be bullied." Duncombe was silent for several moments.

There were many things which he could have said, but where was the use?
"As a French gentleman, then," he said at last, "will you permit me to make a personal appeal to you?
Miss Phyllis Poynton is a young lady in whom I am deeply interested.

She was last seen at the Cafe Montmartre, from which place she disappeared.