“Now I am going to ask a question,” broke in Miss Betty’s voice.

He threw out an imploring hand.

“Madam, I beg you will consider my feeble condition. Am I fit to bear the strain, think you?”

“I do!⁠—Is it usual for gentlemen to ride masked, as you were?”

At that he laughed.

“No, madam, but for the gentlemen of the High Toby, it is de régie .”

She paused, with her needle held in midair:

“Now, what mean you by that?”