ittle later, when they were by themselves again in
the ante-chamber, 'what am I to say to you? How can I thank you? How can
I thank your father?'

'You had better not thank my father,' she said. 'Dad will affect to
regard the thing as a purely business transaction, as, of course, it is.
As for me, you can--you can--'

'Well?'

'Kiss me,' she said. 'There! Are you sure you've formally proposed to
me, mon prince?'

'Ah! Nell!' he exclaimed, putting his arms round her again. 'Be mine!
That is all I want!'

'You'll find,' she said, 'that you'll want Dad's consent too!'

'Will he make difficulties? He could not, Nell--not with you!'

'Better ask him,' she said sweetly.

A moment later Racksole himself entered the room. 'Going on all right?'
he enquired, pointing to the bedroom. 'Excellently,' the lovers answered
together, and they both blushed.

'Ah!' said Racksole. 'Then, if that's so, and you can spare a minute,
I've something to show you, Prince.'

Chapter Thirty CONCLUSION

'I'VE a great deal to tell you, Prince,' Racksole began, as soon as they
were out of the room, 'and also, as I said, something to show you.
Will you come to my room? We will talk there first. The whole hotel is
humming with excitement.'

'With pleasure,' said Aribert.

'Glad his Highness Prince Eugen is recovering,' Racksole said, urged by
considerations of politeness.

'Ah! As to that--' Aribert began. 'If you don't mind, we'll discuss that
later, Prince,' Racksole interrupted him.

They were in the proprietor's private room.

'I want to tell you all about last night,' Racksole resumed, 'about
my capture of Jules, and my examination of him this morning.' And
he launched into a full account of the whole thing, down to the least
details. 'You see,' he concluded, 'that our suspicions as to Bosnia were
tolerably correct. But as regards Bosnia, the more I think about it, the
surer I feel that nothing can be done to bring their criminal
politicians to justice.'

'And as to Jules, what do you propose to do?'

'Come this way,' said Racksole, and led Aribert to another room. A
sofa in this room was covered with a linen cloth. Racksole lifted the
cloth--he could never deny himself a dramatic moment--and disclosed the
body of a dead man.

It was Jules, dead, but without a scratch or mark on him.

'I have sent for the police--not a street constable, but an official
from Scotland Yard,' said Racksole.

'How did this happen?' Ari