e fully later on. See, here
are a number of invitations that have arrived for us. It looks as if we
are not likely to be dull during our stay in London."

So saying, he placed upwards of fifty envelopes before me, many of which
I was surprised to find were addressed to myself. These I opened with
the first feeling of a return to my old social life that I had
experienced since I had re-entered London. The invitations hailed, for
the most part, from old friends. Some were for dinners, others for
musical "at homes," while at least a dozen were for dances, one of the
last-named being from the Duchess of Amersham.

"I have taken the liberty of accepting that on your behalf," said
Pharos, picking the card up. "The Duchess of Amersham and I are old
friends, and I think it will brighten Valerie and yourself up a little
if we look in at her ball for an hour or so to-night."

"But surely," I said, "we have only just reached London, and----" Here I
paused, not knowing quite how to proceed.

"What objection have you to raise?" he asked, with a sudden flash of the
old angry look in his eyes.

"My only objection was that I thought it a little dangerous," I said.
"On your own confession, it was the plague from which Valerie was
suffering in Hamburg."

Pharos laughed a short, harsh laugh, that grated upon the ear.

"You must really forgive me, Forrester, for having deceived you," he
said, "but I had to do it. It was necessary for me to use any means I
could think of for getting you to England. As you have reason to know,
Valerie is possessed of a peculiarly sensitive temperament. She is
easily influenced, particularly by myself, and the effect can be
achieved at any distance. If I were in London and she in Vienna, I
could, by merely exercising my will, not only induce her to do anything
I might wish, but could make her bodily health exactly what I pleased.
You will therefore see that it would be an easy task for me to cause her
to be taken ill in Hamburg. Her second self--that portion of her mind
which is so susceptible to my influence, as you saw for
yourself--witnessed my arrival in Prague and at the hotel. As soon as I
entered the room in which she was waiting for me, the attraction
culminated in a species of fainting fit. I despatched you post haste to
a chemist with a prescription which I thought would be extremely
difficult, if not impossible, for you to get made up. At any rate it
would, I knew, serve my purpose if it ke