By thus accounting for his absence, he had kept the future open for further service as a secret agent.

He was especially concerned at not seeing his fair unknown in church, and at a loss how to account for her absence.

What if Hans really had been drinking and invented this story to account for his absence?

"How then, my good sir, do you account for its absence in this instance?"

So how do you account for your absence these past two days?

Then, while wild theories were being advanced to account for his absence, the missing man revealed himself in Berlin.

To preserve his double identity, he had to account for Cranston's absence.

I'll account for its absence when I relaunch it next Monday.

There's no other way to account for his absence without explaining more than we want to.

How was she going to account for her absence?