ead was clammy to his touch:

"No ... I beg your pardon ... I beg your pardon, your Grace ... I must
be going mad," he stammered.

"It looks very like it," said the Duke coldly.

"What I mean to say is," said Guerchard in a halting, uncertain voice,
"what I mean to say is: help me ... I want you to stay here, to help me
against Lupin, you understand. Will you, your Grace?"

"Yes, certainly; of course I will, if you want me to," said the Duke,
in a more gentle voice. "But you seem awfully upset, and you're
upsetting me too. We shan't have a nerve between us soon, if you don't
pull yourself together."

"Yes, yes, please excuse me," muttered Guerchard.

"Very good," said the Duke. "But what is it we're going to do?"

Guerchard hesitated. He pulled out his handkerchief, and mopped his
forehead: "Well ... the coronet ... is it in this case?" he said in a
shaky voice, and set the case on the table.

"Of course it is," said the Duke impatiently.

Guerchard opened the case, and the coronet sparkled and gleamed
brightly in the electric light: "Yes, it is there; you see it?" said
Guerchard.

"Yes, I see it; well?" said the Duke, looking at him in some
bewilderment, so unlike himself did he seem.

"We're going to wait," said Guerchard.

"What for?" said the Duke.

"Lupin," said Guerchard.

"Lupin? And you actually do believe that, just as in a fairy tale, when
that clock strikes twelve, Lupin will enter and take the coronet?"

"Yes, I do; I do," said Guerchard with stubborn conviction. And he
snapped the case to.

"This is most exciting," said the Duke.

"You're sure it doesn't bore you?" said Guerchard huskily.

"Not a bit of it," said the Duke, with cheerful derision. "To make the
acquaintance of this scoundrel who has fooled you for ten years is as
charming a way of spending the evening as I can think of."

"You say that to me?" said Guerchard with a touch of temper.

"Yes," said the Duke, with a challenging smile. "To you."

He sat down in an easy chair by the table. Guerchard sat down in a
chair on the other side of it, and set his elbows on it. They were
silent.

Suddenly the Duke said, "Somebody's coming."

Guerchard started, and said: "No, I don't hear any one."

Then there came distinctly the sound of a footstep and a knock at the
door.

"You've got keener ears than I," said Guerchard grudgingly. "In all
this business you've shown the qualities of a very promising
detective." He rose, went