ention of Forstner, his Highness went to his bureau to seek his
erstwhile friend's letter. In vain he searched in drawer and secret
panel. The letter had vanished. The four cadets, who stood sentry at the
door of the Duke's apartment, were questioned; they had seen none enter.
His Highness's private waiting-men were examined, and the soldiers of the
guard who stood in the lower antehall. All answered that no one had
passed through. The Chief Officer of the Secret Service himself had
watched the entrance of the Corps de Logis during the preceding evening.

The Duke searched his bureau once more. He was greatly disturbed. Open
warfare, a hand-to-hand combat, he said, were child's play to the horror
of this lurking enemy, who evidently had access even to the private
bureau. Zollern was requested to come and speak with the Duke; his advice
was asked.

'Have you mentioned the matter to the Landhofmeisterin? She is very wise,
and may be able to suggest some explanation,' said Zollern.

No; his Highness had not seen her Excellency. Then a sudden suspicion
came to Eberhard Ludwig. She wished to see the letter; could she have
purloined it?

'Do you know if the Landhofmeisterin left the ballroom during the last
evening?' he asked Zollern.

No; the old Prince had observed her Excellency constantly, and she had
not been absent from the dancing-hall, save for a few moments which she
passed on one of the balconies in the company of a black domino, whose
identity Monseigneur de Zollern had been unable to ascertain.
Serenissimus dismissed his suspicions with relief. It is pain to doubt
those we love.

Zollern took his leave, and the Duke desired the Secret Service officer
to retire. He would ask her Excellency's advice in private. The
Landhofmeisterin was summoned to attend his Highness on important
business. After some little delay she arrived. Passing up the grand
stairs, she was ceremoniously ushered into his Highness's presence.

His suspicion, though dismissed, rankled. Serenissimus greeted her
coldly, and informed her of the letter's disappearance.

'Your Highness refers to a letter which I was not permitted to peruse? I
regret that it should be lost, but you will remember that you considered
it to be unimportant.'

The relationship between the lovers was strained.

'I do not discuss the importance of the document, Madame. Indeed, the
smallest scrap of paper missing from my bureau would be a grave matter to
me, as I s