The Law of the Land by Fred M. White

Dick Charteris was seated at the breakfast table as if he had nothing in the world to occupy his attention beyond his amusements and his appetite. He did not look in the least like a man who is up to his neck in a dangerous intrigue, and upon whose shoulders the happiness of two people rested. He nodded brightly to Sir Charles as the latter came in.

"Where have you come from?" the head of the household asked. "And how long have you been here? You don't mean to say you have come down from town this morning."